The Infected's Tale
by Azard Shioni
Summary: We all know the story of the Survivors, but what about the infected?  Join a few select infected that have retained their humanity in their struggle for a life they could only dream about.  Warning:  All OCs no canon characters other than infected.
1. It Begins

**Me: Well, let's take a stab at a L4D story.**

**Zero: Are you sure you're ready for this?**

**Me: Yes, Zero I'm sure. Oh and for those reading, Zero is the name of the main character of this tale. It's also told from his perspective.**

**Zero: I don't think it's that interesting.**

**Me: You wouldn't Zero, but it's the readers that ultimately decide.**

**Zero: True.**

**Me: OK, disclaimer. I do not own Left 4 Dead nor the types of infected. I own the OCs and the plot but thats it!**

**Zero: That seems a little too natural for you...**

**Me: Shut up... Read and Review please.**

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Chapter 1: It Begins

I can't remember much, though truth be told, I don't think I want to remember. The pain of the infection was far beyond what I thought it would be. Now I was like this, this type of creature that could do amazing feats. I admit during life I was athletic, fast, and strong, but this is just overkill. I am now able to leap over twenty feet in distance and scale walls like I was crawling on the floor. Strangely, unlike most others, the infection didn't mutate me that much.

I still look normal, albeit pale, my body is still in relatively good shape, no gashes or any type of scar nor hole, and I have no facial deformities. My hair even remained its usual shade of black. How did I succumb to this disease in the first place? How did I even get the disease? It made no sense, then again, this illness defied all logic. I remember running into a few people who opened fire upon me. They shot at me calling me a 'Hunter' or something at the top of their lungs.

Damned if I knew why they were yelling. Of course, that was also their last word as a horde of infected rushed in and devoured them. Stupid creatures always reacted to noise, though they leave me alone and I'm noisy as all hell. So I am a hunter of some kind? It didn't make sense, but as I said before, nothing did.

I looked down at my sharp, pale hands as my long, black hair fell in front of my face. What the hell was I? Who the hell am I? I didn't know. My memories of things before the infection are nil, but they seem to return in small doses from time to time. No idea why though. I recall hearing crying at one point and investigating. Another group of people were shooting at a girl who was crying in, what I assumed to be, her room.

She mauled them to death and turned to see me looking in through her window. She hadn't been infected beyond the norm either. Sure, now her hands were long and claw-like and she was super skinny, but there were no adverse mutations like the other infected of her type I'd seen. I believe the humans called her a 'Witch'. That was mean of them. She was familiar and after a moment I realized why. She went to the same high school as me. A name tugged at my mind.

"Sarah?" I asked. Her eyes widened with understanding as she moved toward the window. She opened the window and I tumbled in. I remembered Sarah, the poor girl had one hell of a fucked up family. I don't remember her mother much, but her father was a huge prick. I think he sexually molested her or something, poor girl was scared out of her wits when boys walked up to her. Yet somehow she seemed to trust me and my friends.

"The infection got you too Zero?" She asked half crying. Zero? Was that my name?

"Zero's my name?" I questioned. Sarah shook her head.

"No, it was your nickname. You were so fast that everyone had zero chance of catching you or zero chance of getting away. I don't think you ever told anyone your real name." This time her cry had a bit of a giggle to it, as if she was collecting herself. Great, so I'm to be forever nameless. Oh well, maybe I'll stick with Zero. It has a ring to it.

"Oh, I see."

"It's seems we are somewhat special cases," Sarah said.

"Special?" She wasn't making any sense.

"We have turned into... these infecting things, yet we still retained most of our humanity."

"Think there may be others like us?" I asked.

"Could be," she replied brushing her now white hair out of her face. "But we have to get moving if we want to find them."

"Great... Can the uninfected understand us?"

"I doubt it," Sarah answered rubbing her left arm. "I was trying to tell them to go away in between cries. They didn't understand and shot at me."

"Good thing they were lousy shots," I pointed out earning a giggle from Sarah. "How many others from our school are infected?" She shrugged and shook her head, which didn't make me feel any better. "We should get going."

"Go where?"

"Anywhere but here," I said. We walked out of that house and went to the one I was staying in. Not surprisingly, we couldn't find peace and quiet there either. One couldn't find that anywhere these days.

"TANK!" Came a cry from below us. I admit I was curious, so I investigated.

"Don't shoot and I won't kill you!" Came another, annoyed voice from behind the door.

"Ugh, the damn thing's trying to talk! It wants to kill us!" The first voice said. So Sarah was right after all, the uninfected couldn't understand us. Gunfire rang out and soon there were multiple crashes followed by groans. I opened the door and a large, no scratch that, VERY large figure turned and looked at me. This thing was almost all muscle but the face looked familiar. Another aware infected perhaps?

"Dammit Zero," the creature began, "why did this have to happen?" He knew me yet I couldn't remember who he was, though if he was this big, he may have been a weight lifter.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" I asked him.

"I see the infection fucked your brain up pretty bad my friend. It's me, Bear!" Now I remember. Bear was on the wrestling team, and used to weight lift to make sure he was the strongest one there. Hell, he could lift a bastard that was three weight divisions higher than he was and not break a sweat.

Bear of course was only his nickname as well. Now that I think about it, only a few of the people I knew to any degree went by their real names. Sarah was one of the only few that went by her real name, but that's probably due to lack of a good nickname for her.

"How've you been?" I asked trying to talk to my old friend.

"Pretty well," he answered. "Aside from these stupid normals that attack every once in a while I'm doing ok."

"Do you know what happened to the rest of our clique?"

"I know Razor died. I saw him get taken down by a few normals the other day. Poor guy didn't deserve the kind of brutality they showed him. Ash is still around though I don't see him much. Bastard turned into what the normals call a 'Smoker' though I think they're just stupid. Gimpy is around somewhere, though I'm not sure what exactly it is he's become. I think the normals called him a 'Charger' or something." Go figure. "I don't know what happened to Sarah, but I hope she's ok." Oh, right... Bear had a crush on her for the last few years. At least I can put his mind at ease there.

"Sarah's alive," I told him. "She's what the normals call a 'Witch'." Bear nodded and looked down. I could almost swear I saw a tear run down his cheek. The infection hadn't taken away his humanity either.

"Anyway," he said as he composed himself, "the others are dead, or have no semblance of humanity left. They're now part of the horde of infected you see mindlessly attacking survivors."

"I see," I said. "Think we should find the others?"

"If we're lucky, they'll find us. If not, they've already lost their humanity and are beyond help, even from us."

"Just perfect, so now what?"

"I don't know. Do you know where Sarah is?" Of course he'd ask about Sarah, it was only a matter of time.

"Yes, she's upstairs." Bear didn't waste any time and rushed up the stairs. Typical. I checked around the house quickly, if only to make sure there were no threats around. I went back upstairs and saw a somewhat interesting sight. Bear had fallen asleep and Sarah was running her claw-like fingers through his short, black hair.

"It's good to see another one of our friends survived," she said, sounding elated.

"Yes," I agreed. "Ash and Gimpy are still around somewhere but the others are dead or part of the mindless horde." Sarah began to sniffle. Our group wasn't big, far from it, but we were all like family to each other, mainly due to the fact that most of us had fucked up home lives. I don't remember what Bear's situation was, nor do I remember my own. Maybe if I went home something will come to me, it was a possibility at the very least.

"We should probably move on in the morning," Sarah mused. "More normals may be heading this way soon, especially if they heard this big guy running around."

"It's hard not to notice a mini earthquake," I joked. Sarah giggled again. I loved making her laugh, if only to show her that there was still some good in the world. Another memory came to me, one of laughter. I remembered her laughing in our high school homeroom after school one day, and how she told Bear and me how we'd just saved her life.

She had planned on killing herself that day because she didn't think there was any good left in the world. When we questioned why she told us about her father, and then... Damn, I can't remember what happened after that. Things usually came about with time, and this was probably no different. I walked over to the closet and pulled out a pillow and blanket. "Take these and get some sleep." I handed the items to Sarah.

"Thanks Zero," she yawned out. Exhaustion, something I haven't known for some time... since I became a hunter in fact, but I could still sleep. I decided to walk around the house again, maybe I'll find something to keep myself occupied for the next several hours. Fate wasn't on my side so I went back upstairs and checked on my friends. They were laying next to each other, almost like a real couple. I smiled. I don't know why but I couldn't help it.

I walked to the open window and jumped out. I climbed to the roof and looked up at the night sky. Since the outbreak, much of the electricity had been shut off and the stars chose to come out to play. Memories rushed to me again. This time I remembered my grandfather.

I recalled how we used to sit and look at the sky when we went camping. I haven't seen him since the outbreak. Did he survive, or is he now one of the horde as well? Did he pass on from this world? I hoped for the first thing I thought about. I also remembered the group watching the night sky and watching a meteor shower. There was no such show tonight. The moon wasn't visible either. So a new moon was out... Maybe it's the brain damage making me think this way but this could be a sign. A new moon to symbolize the start of a new life.

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**Me: And that's chapter one.**

**Zero: Hmm, well we'll have to see how good it does won't we.**

**Me: Indeed.**

**Zero: Well, until then, bye all!**


	2. A New Life

**Me: Chapter two is done.**

**Zero: Sweetness.**

**Brutal: I was wondering when you were going to post chapter two.**

**Me: Brutal what the hell are you doing here?**

**Brutal: The same thing the others are. This is the Author Space where all the characters come to play. I was bored, so here I am.**

**Zero: Makes sense.**

**Me: You don't like to question anything do you, Zero?**

**Zero: Yea, but there's nothing to question here. Well, I'll do the disclaimer. Azard doesn't own the types of infected or Left 4 Dead, they all belong to Valve. He owns the story and the characters though.**

**Me: Thank you Zero. Now enjoy. Read and Review please.**

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Chapter 2: A New Life

I didn't sleep at all that night. I couldn't. My friends were asleep in my room and I had to make sure no normals could attack them. Thankfully, nothing happened, so I was at least able to relax while I kept watch. I felt a little like a normal again to be honest, having to keep watch to keep my friends safe. I didn't mind either, it's not like I needed the sleep anyway. I jumped back into my room and saw Bear and Sarah still sleeping. Deciding not to bother them, I walked downstairs and looked around. As I walked downstairs and heard something out of place, footsteps.

I jumped to the chandelier in the living room and looked down. There were three normals walking around, glancing around nervously but never bothering to look up. I was thankful for that. Next I heard loud, gurgling sounds followed with a human calling a big, disfigured, bloated infected a 'Boomer' before blowing it up with a single gunshot. I swear the damn thing exploded and its guts shot all over the normals. Its guts painted the wallpapered walls green. Suddenly there were slams against the door as seemingly hundreds of mindless horde stormed the house to attack the survivors. Surprisingly, these normals put up a good fight.

They pulled out their guns and opened fire on the horde nearly decimating the entire crowd in seconds. Surprising, really. I've never seen normals that efficient.

"I'll look for infected upstairs," one of them said. "If there are any, I'll send them to meet their maker." He cocked his shotgun with a grim smile on his face. I started to get nervous after hearing that. I had to do something to protect my friends, even if it meant I had to die to do it. Luck was finally on my side when a large tongue shot through the window and pulled one of the normals out by his neck. Next another horde rushed in and took down the second. The third took a few steps back as he prepared to open fire upon them.

I lunged forward and tackled the normal and began to rip his guts out. With every time I clawed at the normal I felt a surge of adrenaline course through my body. After a moment of clawing, the normal was dead at my feet. I looked at the blood on my hands... this feeling... felt... familiar. My first kill and it felt like I'd done it before. I wish I knew why it did.

I stood up and looked out the window, watching the long tongued creature strangle the last living normal to death. The horde cleared out as the creature let out a few coughs. It jumped from the building and walked toward me. It was ugly like the other infected, smelled like rotten eggs and was severely deformed.

"What are you doing here?" He asked me.

"Protecting my friends," I answered.

"Friends? What friends? Our kind have no friends, even among our own kind. We're all just temporary allies against the uninfected. Trust me moron, you'll live much longer if you only watch out for yourself! By protecting some infected that were stupid enough to be caught off guard you're only going to be getting yourself killed in the long run. Don't be a moron. Watch yourself and to hell with the others and you'll live a lot longer. Trust me." I stared at him for a few seconds before he turned around and walked out. I heard a low groan at my feet. The horde mauled norm was trying to grab his gun but dropped his hand as his body began to give out. He cursed under his breath at the creature that strangled his ally.

"Damn... Smoker," he said before his eyes closed. That thing was a Smoker? I started to feel bad for Ash. Poor bastard. There were no signs of where the Smoker that killed the first normal went. I poked at the normal that groaned to see that he had also died. The normals shot at us without reason, but then again the Smoker attacked the normals without provocation either. I was thankful for that, granted, but it still felt wrong. These people were fighting for survival, but by the same token, so were we, while the other infected fought for blood. I rushed upstairs and nudged Bear to wake him up.

"What is it Zero?" He asked.

"Get up and get ready, we've got to go," I replied as I rushed to the doorway. "Pick up Sarah and move softly, we don't want your earthquake steps attracting too much attention."

"Asshole," Bear said as he slung Sarah over his shoulder.

"Now's not the time for this," I explained. "A few normals came in earlier and were about to come up and kill you guys. I had to kill one of them."

"Explains why you're covered in blood." He mused. "Hell, I just thought it was that time of the month for you." Why the fuck did he have to be difficult here?

"Quit being a shit head," I told him. "This is serious, we have to leave before more of them show up!" We moved as quickly and silently as possible as we rushed across the city to find a new home to relax in. We eventually found a small, comfortable home in the suburbs and decided to settle there. Sarah woke up along the way and decided to keep lookout on top of Bear's shoulder. Thankfully, we ran into no opposition along the way.

"How many were there earlier?" Sarah asked after Bear filled her in.

"There were three of them," I answered. "One of them was killed by the horde, one was killed by a Smoker and the third one... I killed." I said that last bit with an odd feeling of pride in myself and a small hint of bloodlust. Truthfully, this familiarity with bloodlust started to scare me a little bit.

"Was the smoker Ash?" Bear asked. I shrugged.

"I don't know. I doubt it, he didn't recognize me. Was Ash deformed in any way?"

"No, he was a lot like us. No abnormalities like the others. Just the basics."

"Then it wasn't him." I shuddered slightly remembering what he told me. "He told me that infected like us have no friends, only temporary allies. It, it hurt for some reason." I didn't know how else to phrase that, so I went with what first came to mind. What the Smoker said did bother me.

"When you have friends close like family, it hurts to hear someone tell you no such thing exists," Sarah pointed out. Was she right?

"Yea," Bear said. "Don't listen to fucks like that. It's because they aren't close like us that they're not able to survive and we are." Something still didn't feel right, though I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Still, when I heard one of the norms talking about how they were going to look upstairs, I could have escaped and survived. Instead I lunged at one and could've been killed."

"But you weren't," Sarah said. I still wasn't satisfied.

"Only because I waited for the right moment to strike, after the first two were downed by the smoker and the horde."

"All that proves is that you have more brain power than the average infected. That's nothing to be ashamed of," Bear told me.

"I forsook survival for protection. To any idiot that sounds stupid."

"To any idiot perhaps, but to us sane infected what you did was not only brave, but admirable," Sarah explained. "You did what any of us would've done in your situation. We won't let our friends die just to save our own skins. Don't forget Zero, you saved me twice before this one." Twice? I remember the one. When was the second? "I owe you my life as I owe Bear. If I knew I could protect you two, even if it meant dying, I'd still do it."

"The same goes for me," Bear added. Something inside of me still wasn't satisfied. A question kept nagging at me so I asked it.

"But then what?" I asked. They looked at me confused. "Let's say that such a thing happens and you two give your lives to protect someone else. Where does that leave the survivor? If Sarah and I gave our lives to save yours Bear, what would you do?" There was a silence. Of course, he had no answer. "What about you Sarah? What would you do if Bear and I gave our lives to protect you?" Sarah and Bear turned to each other and nodded in some silent decision.

"We'd continue living," Sarah replied. "Even if we are alone, we'll continue living and make the most of the chance the fallen had given us. And we'll make sure to never forget the sacrifice of those that allowed us to do so." Bear nodded confidently. Go figure that he would agree with something she said. "It is more painful to live knowing you could've done something to save your friends when you didn't." I shook my head. It was practically spinning at this point and nothing Sarah nor Bear were saying was making it spin slower. "Zero, do you remember the second time you saved me?" I tilted then shook my head. "Then I won't tell you." My eyes widened as I looked at her. Wasn't she supposed to be trying to make me feel like what I did was the right thing? Why wouldn't she tell me? "When you remember, come talk to me. It'll all make sense then." Gibberish, more gibberish. That's what it sounded like. Nothing but gibberish to me.

We walked inside and chose our rooms. It was a small, two-family house with three levels. Two floors and a basement. That could come in handy if we needed to pull off an ambush. Sarah and Bear took rooms on the first floor while I took a room on the second. I sat on the floor and stared at the ceiling as I tried to remember. The only thing that came to me was the age that we all caught the infection, eighteen, and it had barely been three months since. I sighed and looked out the window and saw more normals.

Just what we needed... more norms. They didn't appear to be armed well though. At the most they could kill a Boomer, maybe a Smoker if they got lucky. This time there were four males and one female. I thought I recognized the female for a bit. She had long amber colored hair and green eyes. She was maybe five foot eight, six inches shorter than my six foot two, though I couldn't be sure from the second floor. At a glance, she seemed to be about my age... well, my age before I became infected, even then it was still the same. She had delicate features and and wore tight clothes that was fit perfectly on her delicate figure. She was cute, wait CUTE? What the hell am I thinking? She's a normal for fuck's sake! She'd probably blow my head off with a shotgun given the chance!

She seemed shy from my point of view, huddled close to herself in the middle of the four others. If she wasn't prepared to shoot to kill in this world, what the hell was she doing with them? One of the males looked familiar too, but, I don't remember who he was either. He had short black hair and brown eyes. His clothes were tight, but that was only a precaution when dealing with creatures like the horde. I wish I could remember why he was familiar. Memory loss sucks.

I continued to watch them until the girl turned and saw me. She stopped moving entirely which prompted the others to stop as well. They looked where she was and I saw the male that looked familiar mouth something as if in confusion, then motioned for the others to continue. What the hell just happened? Did I miss something here? Apparently I did. Figuring I had nothing more to worry about, I laid down on the wooden floor and stared at the ceiling.

I thought I'd try inducing a memory this time. Well, if it could come with me being in a familiar place, or seeing a familiar sight, maybe thinking of a familiar person would induce something too. It made sense, right? Unable to focus my thoughts, they wandered onto that girl again. Why was this girl so familiar? Although, I think the more important question is, why did I start to drool when I saw her? If she seemed this familiar to cause such a reaction from me, perhaps she was a figure from my past. It was more than likely.

My memories didn't return this time. Dammit, I wish I could control these memories, but of course I couldn't. That would only be too convenient. My mind, or what was left of it, wandered to the events of today. The kill, meeting the Smoker, the short journey here and my talk with my friends all stayed fresh in my mind. Was the Smoker right, or were Bear and Sarah? Should I have only been concerned with saving myself? When that question rushed into my head I had a terrible ache in my gut. Apparently something from my past told me that I was wrong with that question.

The kill haunted me the most. It should though, right? After all, it was my first kill, wasn't it? It should be but, why did the adrenaline feel so natural, so right, like I'd done it before? This question haunted me for quite a while. I had such pride in myself after the kill and it still worried me. Was I becoming one of those mindless bastards that only thought about killing? Can't be... it just can't... can it? I mean, I didn't kill because I enjoyed it. I did to protect my friends. But then comes the bloodlust.

What was my motivation behind that bloodlust in my voice? Was I really a special case as Sarah had said? Or am I just taking longer to fall into madness than the others? Was this the new life we were going to live? Constantly on the run from the humans while avoiding the attempted slaughter they wish to bring upon us in their attempt to escape? Killing anyone that attacked to survive? Struggling with the little humanity we've managed to retain? If humans were the good and the infected were the bad, were we the shades of gray? These questions raced through my head as I was eventually consumed by darkness.

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**Me: Thus ends chapter two.**

**Zero: You like to put a little Mind Fuck in there don't you?**

**Me: Yes, yes I do.**

**Brutal: Gotta say kid, I'm impressed.**

**Me: Well, now you've all gotta wait till chapter three.**

**Shannon: Bwahahahhaaha! -lightning strikes-**

**Me: What the fuck? Who cued the lightning?**

**-Everyone shakes their heads-**

**Brutal: Shazzy, what the hell are you doing here?**

**Shazzy: -Stares at the floor- I was bored.**

**Me: Whatever, still doesn't change the fact that they gotta wait for chapter three.**

**Zero: Don't worry, he's on chapter six already.**

**Me: Zero, you bastard! -chases Zero out of the room with a katana-**


	3. An Enlightening Experience

** Me: Chapter 3, finally.**

** Zero: What finally? You've had this done for a while.**

** Me: Zero, do I need to get Mr. Katana again?**

** Zero: I'll be good.**

** Bear: Hehe, that was pretty funny.**

** Me: Yes, yes it was. Ok then Bear, how about you handle the disclaimer this time?**

** Bear: Okay. Azard doesn't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected. All he owns are us and the plot.**

** Me: Thank you, Bear.**

** Bear: You're welcome. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got... 'things' to do.**

** Zero: Things?**

** Me: He's going to spend time with Sarah.**

** Zero: Good for him.**

** Me: Indeed. Read and Review please.**

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Chapter 3: An Enlightening Experience

This was weird. I opened my eyes and found myself in a building. I had a black book bag slung around my shoulder and was sitting in a chair listening to an adult. Was I back in high school? The woman at the front of the room that I think was the teacher began a boring lecture about biology. She said something about antibodies and vaccines against many diseases before a loud ring erupted throughout the room. The other students got up and walked out, so I followed. Before I left the room, I stole a quick glance at the clock. 2:30. So school was over. I walked through the hall and met with Bear. I'd almost forgotten that he once looked normal. Funny how we forget so many things.

We met up with the rest of the group and walked out together. I started to chuckle as I watched Bear steal glances at Sarah as we walked. Her eyes were once blue and her hair color was dirty blond. Big contrast to her now. Her hair was now longer than her shoulders and was white, while her eyes had turned a near glowing red. Something in the way she acted told me she knew of Bear's crush.

She occasionally turned away as her cheeks turned a faint shade of pink. Then, that girl from before showed up. She was a student here too? Go figure. She sat quietly underneath a tree and had her face buried in a book. She picked her head up for a second and saw us coming then quickly buried her head in her book again. She really was shy.

Bear, Ash, Razor and Gimpy started laughing as they looked over at me. Why they did that escapes me. I glanced at her and watched her do the entire thing again, only this time our eyes met for a second. Of course, now the whole group was laughing at me.

"You're so oblivious!" Bear yelled as he slapped me on my back. The others in the group began to follow his example as the laughter became so loud a man who I assumed was another teacher came out and told us to shut up. After another laughing fit we moved further away from the school.

"Take a look," Ash whispered to the group so the girl wouldn't hear. "She's glancing just above the book to get a look."

"Get a look at what?" I asked. Again, they all began to laugh at me.

"You'll figure it out some day," Gimpy said. Those words echoed in my head as my vision blurred and I found myself back in that small house in the suburbs. So it was all a dream? I'd forgotten about dreaming as well. Such things tended to happen when you didn't sleep much. I had to leave, if only to clear my head. I jumped out of the window and began running to the city. I was impressed by how much faster I'd gotten. I'd made it to the city in under a minute. I leapt to the top of one of the nearby buildings and began to explore.

The buildings were all broken and abandoned. Broken windows and glass were everywhere, without anything seemingly left intact. There were probably thousands of mindless horde beneath me, and the sight never ceased to amaze me. I continued leaping from rooftop to rooftop until I came upon a familiar sound, gunfire. I rushed over the source of the noise, as if drawn by an unexplainable force. Were my baser instincts beginning to take over? I saw the five normals that passed behind the house earlier fighting a horde of undead that was seemingly endless. Another group that was more effective than I gave them credit for. After the horde was decimated, the black haired boy turned and looked up, like he'd expected something to show up.

"Yo, Will, you ok?" I heard one of the other boys ask the black haired one. He sighed deeply and looked back at the others.

"Yea, I'm ok," Will replied before he looked back up at me. I wish I was a mind reader because his stare had that tinge of familiarity to it. Like he also knew me. He turned to the others and they headed off, reloading their weapons as they walked.

"It sucks not being able to remember, doesn't it Zero?" Came a voice from behind me. I spun around quickly and saw a Smoker staring at me. No deformities besides what was obvious, like the tongue.

"Ash?" I asked. He chuckled in between coughs.

"Good to see you at least remember me," he said pulling his long tongue back into his mouth. His once red hair had turned a jet black and his eyes and skin became a sickly green. "So how have you been?"

"So-so," I replied. "I can't remember much, but what I did end up recollecting led me to Sarah and Bear."

"Good to hear Bear's doing ok," he said. "I thought he wouldn't last long with those earthquake steps of his." He let out a wheezing laugh.

"I know, I joked about that earlier," I informed him. He kept laughing. I looked back down and saw the horde below that laid dead on the ground. "How did all of this happen?"

"I'm not sure," Ash answered. "I think the disease itself spread on its own." He paused for a moment. Was he preparing what he had to say next? "But the intelligent infected is all due to me."

"Due to you?"

"Yes. Three months ago, before the infection hit, some scientists came to the town needing a test subject for their newest vaccine for this infection. They paid well and my family needed the money so I did it."

"I take it the vaccine didn't work?"

"Worse than not work, it caused me to become this. Their vaccine failed miserably and then they tried to kill me. I killed them and escaped. I had no control over my own body nor mind for the first week and helped the infection along over here. I brought the lesser infection where the creatures don't have any recollection of their past selves. They became the monsters you see below."

"Damn. Wait, if they became the mindless horde, then how did Sarah, Bear, Gimpy, Razor and I become intelligent infected?"

"Now this is the part where you're going to hate me. The people I attacked directly became intelligent infected."

"So you attacked all of us!" I shouted. Ash shook his head and coughed again.

"No, I didn't. Before I snapped out of my baser instincts I only attacked one person from the clique, and that was the only person I ever attacked." He paused again and I braced myself. Something told me I wasn't going to like the answer to this. "You were the first and only person I attacked." I recoiled so much I almost fell off the roof. I was his first victim? "I'm sorry, I attacked you and snapped out of it as soon as I began to strangle you. Something must have cut you and a little of my saliva fell into your bloodstream. That changed you from the inside out. That's the only way the intelligent infected come about."

"Then how did the rest-"

"I was getting to that," Ash stated. "I watched you in the following week when you transformed while your body and mind were still focused on their baser instincts, if only to make sure you didn't kill anyone." My eyes began to widen in fright and realization.

"I attacked them," I said shakily.

"Yes, you did," Ash responded. "I made sure you couldn't kill anyone, but the wounds you gave them were too severe for them to survive. So I made sure to donate what they needed to survive."

"Your saliva?"

"Actually, I used yours. I extracted some from you after I'd subdued you."

"So it's all my fault," I stated terrified at my own actions.

"No, it's not. It's mine," Ash said trying to reassure me. "If I hadn't gone for that test, then maybe we'd all be survivors that had to escape. I've come to terms with my mistake and I've tried to make right for it." What the fuck was I supposed to say to that?

He made right by protecting us when he came to his senses and I lost mine. I hadn't done a damn thing to atone.

"Did I turn immediately?" I asked. I had to know.

"No," Ash answered. "You got sick first, then fell more ill and eventually your heart stopped beating. It all took about a week. That's when you turned."

"Will I keep decomposing like the others?"

"No, your a special infected. As time goes on you'll remain the same unless you are killed. Then you'll decompose. If you were a normal infected like the horde you would have been decomposing, albeit slowly, this entire time." This was a lot to take in. I sat on the roof and rested my head in my hands. I cried a little bit too. While yes, Ash did turn me, I was the one that ended up being the reason the others turned.

"Now what?" I asked, more directed at myself than Ash.

"Well, your friends already know you're the reason they turned. You're the only one that suffered memory loss from it."

"So I got the shit end of the stick. Why did they forgive me?"

"After you died, per se, the group was caught off guard when you showed up and attacked them less than a day later. Then they had the same experience when they had no control for a week. After that they realized that you couldn't control yourself and forgave you because you couldn't help it."

"I don't deserve their forgiveness."

"Quit being a fucking emo!" Ash yelled after a coughing fit. That snapped me out of my thoughts. "I heard what that Smoker the other day told you, about how infected have no friends. I met up with him and he gave me the same speech. I've never heard of such bullshit in my life. Let me tell you a story, there was a Boomer who thought just like that Smoker did. He went off on his own and 'allied' himself with someone. That infected was supposed to create a distraction for the Boomer so it could puke on some humans to call the horde to finish them off. Do you know what happened to that Boomer?" I shook my head. There had to be a point to this. "He was shot and destroyed by the very human _you_ killed yesterday. That 'ally' of his left him to die. Because we have friends we can form a greater team and survive far longer than any idiot going solo. That Smoker will find his demise sooner than he expects. Believe your friends before some random dick-head." There was the point.

"I know," I replied solemnly. "I just needed some time to collect my thoughts. That's why I'm here. Then you showed up and dropped _that_ bombshell on me."

"You were going to find out sooner or later," Ash explained, "so I figured sooner. You deserved to know."

"Thanks." That was all I could bring myself to say. Where was I supposed to go from here? What was I supposed to do? I still didn't remember much so I was basically useless in the memory department. Maybe I could make myself useful combat wise. I'd already killed and... wait that's it! "Do you remember when I'd saved Sarah?"

"The first time or the second?"

"The second." I should've thought of this first.

"Yea I remember why?" He asked. My mouth formed a twisted smile.

"Tell me what happened," I replied.

"Sorry, no go," Ash said, coughing slightly.

"WHY!" I screamed. Why is he withholding information _now_? WHY?

"It's in your memories," he said. Great, now he's mocking me for my memory too. "If I reveal a memory to you before you're meant to remember it, it could cause severe side effects. By that I mean you may go crazy as all your memories rush to you at once and drive you insane. You'll remember it when you're meant to." Another fucking riddle. Son of a bitch!

"More riddles," I said, annoyed. "Wait a minute, you just told me about how _you _were the reason I became an infected." He looked at me confused, apparently he didn't understand what I was getting at. "Shouldn't that have driven me insane?" His eyes rolled. What did I miss this time?

"You were having a nap at the time Zero. You never saw me coming nor what I did. That _never _would have came back to you as a memory. That and you were unconscious throughout your illness."

"Oh," I said, somewhat disappointed. "I should head back, Bear and Sarah might be wondering where I went. Doubtful though." Ash walked up and punched me on the back of my head.

"Of course they're wondering where you are, idiot! We're all friends here. So lead the way Zero!"

"Lead the way where?"

"Home of course!" Ask a stupid question...

"You're coming too?" Had to ask another. Now I really felt stupid.

"Yea, why not?" He answered my question with his own.

"I don't know," I admitted. "Follow me then." I began to leap toward the house as Ash closely followed. Eventually we made our way back home and walked inside. Sarah and Bear were on the floor sleeping next to each other again.

"It was only a matter of time," Ash laughed. I nodded.

"Did you ever figure out a way for the normals to understand us?" I questioned.

"Sadly no," he responded. "I've never found a human willing to not kill us and try to learn."

"They're a rare creed."

"Indeed."

"Should we go looking for Gimpy?" I asked. I admit I was curious to see what happened to the last living, sane member of our clique.

"Nah, he'll be ok. He's been ramming into people since the infection claimed him and he couldn't be happier." I stared at Ash. Did he realize what he just said? He turned and saw my confused glance. "Oh shit!" He caught it. "I mean, he's a Charger now so he enjoys hitting people. He's been doing that. _Not_ the thing it sounded like." I laughed. Ash was usually one who chose his words carefully which made this more hilarious. "Look, I got a letter from Gimpy as a matter of fact." I picked up the letter and read it.

_Dear Ash,_

_How are things going? Things are fine over here. I've been ramming into people so much I think I've earned the name 'Charger' and no not that kind of ramming you perverted bastard! Get your mind out of the gutter. I can't wait to find Zero and thank him for this. This shit's way to awesome to not be considered a gift. I'll come back to the hometown soon and find the guy. Hope he isn't taking it too hard. He shouldn't blame himself. If he does, smack him once for me if you can. Catch you later bro._

_Your buddy,_

_Gimpy._

"Oh, that's right!" Ash smacked me again on the back of the head. "Mission accomplished." Asshole. I couldn't help but laugh. Ash chose his room and I went back up to mine. Within minutes, I was sleeping again.

* * *

**Zero: Do you enjoy tormenting me?**

**Me: I don't know what you're talking about.**

**Zero: I'm getting my ass kicked by nearly everyone.**

**Ash: Sometimes you need a good whack to snap you back into shape.**

**Me: Couldn't have said it better myself.**

**Zero: Where are Brutal and Link?**

**Me: Well, Link is with Zelda and Brutal's training with his 'family'.**

**Zero: I hope Brute finds what he's been looking for.**

**Me: Me too Zero, me too.**


	4. Reunion

**Zero: Whoot! Chapter 4!**

**Bear: Excited?**

**Sarah: Isn't that the understatement of the century...**

**Me: No the understatement of the century is that school is annoying.**

**Bear: Point made.**

**Brutal: So how about one of the leading ladies for this tale does the disclaimer?**

**Sarah: Very well. Azard doesn't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected. They belong to valve. All he owns are the characters and the plot.**

**Me: Thank you Sarah. Read, Review and Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 4: Reunion

"Wake up," came a new voice. I opened my eyes and saw the black haired boy from before. His whole group was in my room brandishing shotguns with small machine guns strapped to their backs. All except the girl, who was currently not in their company. Where did she go? "Don't be alarmed, don't attack and we won't attack you." That sounded familiar. Bear said the same damn thing. "It's good to see you again, big brother." Big brother? So this kid's my little brother? Just great. I looked to see his allies turning to each other with confused expressions on their faces. "Don't worry about it. He's my big brother. Stand guard outside while I talk to him."

"So what do you want bro?" I asked. He tilted his head in confusion.

"I have no idea what you just said," was the response I received. I shrugged and sighed. "You may want to keep quiet. If the guys hear you, they may figure out you're a Hunter." I jumped back slightly. "That's right, I know. I watched you die almost three months ago." I hung my head.

"I couldn't help what happened..." I said solemnly. This time he jumped back slightly. Why?

"Don't worry about what happened," he said. I looked at him slightly confused. "I'm your brother, Zero. I know about your tells and what you do when you feel a certain way. I need your help." I shrugged again to ask with what. "You remember that girl we were traveling with before?" I nodded. For some reason I couldn't get her out of my mind. Goddammit, why was this female having this kind of effect on me? Never mind, I've got more important matters to worry about. Apparently I had no way of communicating with my own brother. Shit. "Well, a few other survivors ambushed us and knocked us out. When we came to, she was gone. We assume they took her and I'd like your help in getting her back." Some reunion. I brought my right hand to my face thoughtfully.

"To help I'd have to get the clique's aid as well." I said thinking out load.

"I don't see why that'd be a problem, oh fuck."

"You can understand me?" I almost shouted.

"Will, whats going on in there? What's that noise?" Came the voice of one of the boys on the opposite side of the door.

"Nothing!" He called back. "I guess I can because I'm your brother." That was a stupid explanation.

"That explanation sucked," I whispered.

"I know, but what other explanation could there possibly be? My friends still can't understand you, so what else is there?" My brother asked. His questions made sense.

"I guess your the only normal I can talk to then." I said. He nodded.

"Wait here," he said before walking out. Now what is he going to do? I turned and looked out the window. After a few minutes he came back in with his group. "Well big bro, they know. They won't kill you or your allies, in fact this could work to our advantage."

"You want us to run distraction?" I asked. It seemed that he had that in mind. I was surprised when he shook his head.

"No, we'll do that," Will said. "After all, you've got a princess to rescue." That earned him confused looks across the board.

"What are you talking about Will?" One of the others asked. I agree, what the hell _is _he talking about?

"Have you been hitting the catnip again bro?" I asked. Wait, why did I just ask that?

"I swear to god... I did that _one_ time! _One _time!" He almost shouted. How did I remember something like that?

"Forget it," I said. "Tell your group to stay here, I'll get my team." I rushed downstairs and stirred the others from their sleep.

"What is it Zero?" Bear asked.

"We've got visitors, but they need our help."

"More infected?" Sarah asked.

"Not exactly, it's my little brother."

"Can we trust him?" Ash asked as he walked into the room.

"He had the perfect opportunity to kill all of us while we slept, yet he didn't."

"Point made," Ash said. Damn right that was a point.

"Also, for some reason he can understand me... though I don't think he can understand anyone else. So I'll be the bridge between you and him. Just so you can tell him what you need to." They nodded their approval and we headed upstairs. The looks on his allies' faces were priceless.

"Holy shit!" One of them exclaimed. "They've basically got the elites among the special infected. All they're missing is a damned Charger." I laughed. We had that too, he just wasn't here.

"Your brother knows these things Will?" Another asked. Will looked thoughtful and nodded.

"Yes, he does and they're not things. They're his clique."

"Wait, you mean that group he was always hanging out with?" The fourth ally asked. Will nodded. "Wow."

"So why exactly do we have to rescue her?" I questioned. Truth be told I didn't see what the urgency was.

"She's our friend," Will replied. I nodded. That was all I needed to hear. "So what's the plan?"

"You wanted to rescue her, I assumed you had the plan." I said.

"C'mon bro, you know me, I'm no strategist." I shook my head. That seemed to tell him all he needed. "You can't remember much, can you?" I shook my head again. "No wonder you seemed so confused."

"Do you know where they took her?" I asked. Basic stuff. If he didn't know it'd be like going on a wild goose chase.

"Yep, I've even got a map of the building," he replied pulling out a blue piece of paper. I took it from him and opened it on the floor. Blueprints... more memories... My vision began to fade again. When I came to I was sitting on the floor looking at a different blueprint. What was going on this time? I could see myself tracing the paper with one of my fingers. So I was watching this memory, instead of reliving it. I was studying the paper carefully along with the others. Ash, Bear, Gimpy, Sarah and Razor were all there.

"So do you think we can pull this off?" Gimpy asked. I nodded.

"We just need to be precise with our timing and we should be able to pull this off," Ash said. "So fearless leader, where do we start?"

"Take a look here," I said pointing to a spot on the blueprint. "Over here is vent that should take us inside."

"What about over here?" Bear inquired pointing to another spot.

"That's part two, but good eyes bro," I replied. "The ones that head in the vent will go inside first and create a distraction. Then the ones at entrance B will go inside and do the deed. If this goes according to plan the school team will have a new motto!"

"Sweet!" Razor exclaimed . Razor... dammit guy if anyone could've survived as an infected it was you. He was one of my best friends. The one thing I, or any of us, never understood is why he dyed his spiky hair green to match his eyes. Oh well. I started to feel like crap again. Razor was turned because of me, and he was slaughtered by the normals... It wasn't my fault. None of it was. I couldn't control myself and it's because of me that Bear and Sarah are alive today.

"Sweet indeed," I said. "Ok, let's put this plan into action!" The next thing I knew, I was watching everyone stand in front of the high school. Here again... Is this going to be a reoccurring thing? I shimmied to the roof with Razor close behind and made my way to the vent. Razor went over to the opening and stood watch while I dove inside and ended up in one of the wider hallways. I looked up and saw the red banner that had our school's mascot and motto.

_ GO KNIGHTS! Reign in Victory!_ It said. While, yes, it wasn't that bad of a motto, our mascot's nickname the football team earned it definitely called for a new motto. Our football team was known for doing the craziest plays that most people would dub insane at best, most involving me. Wait, that's right, I was on the football team too. I played running back and sometimes wide receiver, that's how I earned my nickname, Zero. If I passed the defenders, I was scoring a touchdown. They could never catch me. Our habit to use crazy plays earned us the full title, 'Psycho Knights' so the students felt we needed a new motto. It was just up to us to put a plan into motion and get the team a new motto.

I started to slam my fists into lockers and other objects that would create the most noise. Within moments I was surrounded by the security guards on duty. I sped past them and darted down the halls, leading the guards on a chase they'd never forget. I pulled out a walkie-talkie and pressed the talk button a number of times to signal the others to move. I made a mad dash into a separate hallway and collided with something... actually, some_one_. That girl again! What the hell was she doing here at this hour? Her books were scattered across the floor as she stared directly at me. That pink tinge was on her cheeks again. Wait, there was also a similar tinge on mine too?

"Sorry, gotta run!" I called back as I jumped up and darted off. Good thing I ran again too, because the security guards were right on my tail. I led them on the chase for another good two hours before I rushed out through some metal doors and met the clique. We laughed and rushed off the grounds until school the next day. When we walked back inside the first thing we saw was a new banner hanging in the main hall.

_GO PSYCHO KNIGHTS! LET INSANITY REIGN! _We liked the new motto. Apparently the rest of the school did too as the students were cheering like mad. I was called into the principal's office and reprimanded before I was congratulated. The principal herself told me to thank the clique before she sent me on my way. Broke into the school and I didn't even get in trouble. SWEET! As I walked out my vision became hazy.

"Zero! ZERO! Snap out of it!" Will yelled as he hit me on the back. I shook my head in response and looked at everyone. They were all staring at me like I'd grown a second head or something.

"What the hell happened to him?" One of Will's comrades asked.

"I don't know," Will replied. "Bro, you ok? You were staring into space for, like, a half hour." After remembering where I was, I nodded.

"Yea, I just... had another flashback," I told him. "I was called into the principal's office after the clique changed the team's motto." I chuckled. "I didn't even get in trouble for that stunt."

"You were always the type to get away with murder," Will recalled chuckling. "The school thought you were too badass to get in trouble after you pulled that stunt." The whole group laughed, infected included. Sadly, the laughter ended just as we remembered what we had to do. I glanced back down and traced my fingers over the map.

"Gather around," I said. Will translated for the normals and everyone gathered around me. "Listen carefully, because time's of the essence and I've already wasted a good portion of it, I'm only going to explain this once." Will continued translating as a small chuckle came from the group. "This is what we're going to do."

* * *

**Zero: Kinda short...**

**Me: Well, that's what happens when you leave a little cliffhanger.**

**Zero: What cliffhanger? The plan?**

**Me: Yep. I think you'll like the next chapter though. This is just a little exposition.**

**Zero: What's in the next chapter?**

**Me: Just a little something... and another look at your past.**

**Zero: Ok, ok. I'll leave this be... for now.**

**Me: Good. So, until next time.**


	5. A Risky Rescue

**Me: Chapter 5... now for some fun.**

**Zero: Why do I have a weird feeling about this chapter?**

**Me: Whatever do you mean?**

**Zero: You're going to do something to me here too aren't you?**

**Will: Wouldn't surprise me, Zero.**

**Bear: Me either.**

**Will: I'll get the disclaimer. Azard doesn't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected. They're owned by Valve. All he owns are the characters and the plot.**

**Me: Thanks Will.**

**Will: Anytime.**

**Me: Read and review please.**

* * *

Chapter 5: A Risky Rescue

We split up. Since I looked like an albino I could technically pass for a human. I headed with Will's group to the front of an abandoned, desolate warehouse at the far end of the city. How much time we had to pull this off was up for debate. The windows were destroyed and broken, the bricks were old and had been partially eaten away by time. On the side of the building was vegetation that grew to the top of the building. Changing the initial plan, I picked up a brick and chose to make my ascent to the roof using the vegetation. The roof had a simple duct that I could use to sneak inside, so I jumped in without hesitation. I was in the ducts, moving silently through the intricate paths to make my way to the room the survivors barricaded themselves in.

I was able to find an opening just above the survivors and chuckled a bit. They were really this stupid? How'd they get the drop on my brother then? To hell with it. You don't have to be _that _smart to set up an ambush. I stuck my head out and glanced around the room to get a glimpse of what we'd be dealing with. There were ten of them, all surrounding the bound girl that had traveled with my brother until recent.

She had been gagged so the only noises she could make were frightened moans or squeaks. She let one slip through as one of the ten approached her and it seemed to... excite them... sick fucks. Her clothes were, as I'm sure my brother would be thanking the powers that be, still intact, indicating that they hadn't done anything _too_ horrible yet.

The plan was set, now all I had to do was wait for the right moment to strike. I just hoped everybody was ready for this, these guys were armed to the teeth with weapons. I just had to look at these survivors to figure out that a full on contact fight would've been suicide. They were older, about ten years older to be exact, without much doubt stronger than my brother's group, I couldn't vouch for myself, I had no idea how much stronger I'd become, and armed with better weapons. They had AKs while my brother had Uzis.

This was not looking good for us, not by a long-shot. This is one time I hoped we could get away with murder. I sat in the vent and meditated. I had to calm myself down before the stress of this could get to me. A part of me wanted to just jump down there and rip every last of them to shreds, but I knew that plan would kill me before it killed them.

My brother was surely taking his sweet ass time. Wasn't time the main issue here? Or did I just imagine that? I sighed and glanced at a clock on the wall. He still had a few minutes after all. Ugh, it's true, the calm before the storm is always the worst part. I began to breathe softly in a resting pattern, if only to attempt to calm myself down.

Soon I heard soft rapping on the door on the opposite end of the room. Will and his group were in position. Soon after a tapping came from the wall, but nothing to rouse too much suspicion. Bear, Sarah and Ash were ready as well. I palmed the brick to wait for the opportune moment. Below me, the normals were staring at the girl lustfully. No time to waste! I hung upside down from the vent and launched my brick through the only intact window remaining in the warehouse.

Their attention quickly shifted to the source of the noise as Will and his group entered through the door and began to fire at them. Unfortunately the normals' weapons really were better than Will's. They returned fire and cornered my brother's group behind a makeshift brick wall that the norms must've put up in case there were driven back by infected. The bullets continued to rain down on Will's group keeping them pinned behind the wall. Now for the risky part. I was about to jump down when a boomer broke through the wall where I threw the brick. In a second it vomited its bile on the ten survivors calling in a mess of horde. The norms had no choice but to turn their fire on the quickly advancing horde.

Will poked his head out of his cover, his hands were still tightly gripping his machine gun as he looked at me for conformation. I nodded and he shot several shots into the far wall. The second sign had been executed. Bear broke through the other wall and threw a large chunk of concrete at the ten normals. Three of them were hit and instantly killed as the concrete crushed them into the floor. This was an unexpected turn but not that positive of one.

Sure the normals were more disoriented but now we had to fight back the horde. Bullets were blazing everywhere as the norms couldn't figure out where to hold their fire. They shot around rapidly as the horde came in their attempt to decimate a few others before they could focus on their real targets. The horde split and began to advance on my brother and his squad. Bear and Sarah rushed the mob while Ash picked off one of the norms with his tongue. There were still six norms left and they were fending off the horde.

Their leader, a tall, bald man, picked up a few molotov cocktails and launched them into the advancing horde nearly lighting half of them on fire. I jumped down and landed on one of the other survivors before I ripped his heart out of his chest with my bare hands. One the survivors twisted and shot at me, but he met a similar fate. My claws slashed him across the throat and sent him sprawling on the floor, clutching the open gash in his neck in the vain hope that it would stop. He was dead, and he knew it. I leapt to the next normal, picked him up by his throat and sent him flying into not only another of his teammates, but straight into the jaws of the horde. Their screams of terror and pain echoed across the room for several moments before they were silenced. Only two normals left.

The first normal charged me, leaving his leader shooting at the horde alone. He pulled out a knife and slashed at me, trying to slice my head off no doubt. I quickly maneuvered out of the way and grabbed his arm. With a quick yank, his arm was removed from its socket. He fell to the floor, writhing in pain. I jumped on his chest and tore the other arm off instantly, causing his screams to get louder. I was annoyed by his constant screaming. I grasped his head with my claws and with a swift tear, ripped his head clean off his shoulders, neck and all. The horde turned almost fully on Will's group, Ash had rushed to their aid and was fighting alongside Bear in close-combat.

There was something odd about the ground I was standing on. After I sniffed I figured it out. There was gasoline on the floor. The last 'evil' normal twisted his eyes in delight. He reached into his pocket and pulled out another molotov cocktail. My eyes widened in shock. He was going to throw the cocktail into the mob and kill everyone! I didn't even think and acted on instinct. I lunged at him and tackled him to the ground as I repeatedly clawed at him. The molotov fell to the ground and exploded, lighting a good portion of the ground on fire.

Within seconds, I was poised over a bleeding, nearly-dead body as fire surrounded us. The look in his eyes gave me an eerie feeling of satisfaction. His eyes told all, I was a demon sent from hell to him. I watched the flames dance around me as I periodically looked at the dying normal. His breathing slowed until it eventually came to a stop. I was about to jump out until I saw the fire start to reflect in the dead man's still open eyes. I wanted to jump out, I wanted to, but I couldn't. Why?

"ZERO!" Came a cry from someone fighting the horde. I couldn't make out who it was. All of my senses began to fade. The last thing my eyes saw before they blacked out was Bear rushing toward me as fire obstructed my view.

"Zero, what do you think about what Sarah told us?" Bear asked as my vision came into focus. Where was I this time? I took a quick look around before I saw my reflection in a puddle. A memory of when I was sixteen. So I was reliving this memory, and I was walking through the neighborhood park with my friend whom I considered a brother. If only I could remember what this was a memory of.

"Refresh my memory," I said, "so I can give you a proper response." Bear nodded and glanced down. I looked into his eyes and saw something I had only seen once or twice, a look of pure rage.

"Sarah said her father's been molesting her," he reminded me. WHAT THE FUCK! I had no words, none that could describe how or what I was feeling at this moment. One of the people that I considered a friend was dealing with such an atrocity. I had to do something. WE had to do something. I looked around, trying to calm down when I remembered the first thing that came to me when I saw Sarah as a Witch. This could be the memory that tells me how she got away from him.

"We're going to get her out of there," I said, eerily calm. Bear took one look into my eyes and calmed down. Then he did something I never thought I'd see him do in a time like this. He smiled, a confident yet darkened smile that conveyed everything he would do to that scumbag that was Sarah's father if he could get his hands on him. Why was I remembering this?

Later that night we went to her house to get her out. We figured a nighttime bust would be best, we could get in and get her out before her bastard of a father had time to blink. When we got there we saw something that wasn't exactly settling. There were small glimmers of light that were flickering in her window. The only thing that flickered that way was a candle, or multiple candles. The candles themselves weren't that bad, in fact we thought it was slightly symbolic at the time, then we heard the music. The music that was playing from her room was some type of Jazz that those at the high school 'affectionately' dubbed 'love-making music'. That could not be good.

"What's going on in there?" Bear asked, his anger returning to his voice.

"I don't know," I admitted, "but we're going to find out. Toss me to her window, then you go through the front door if I react hastily." He nodded and cupped his hand at his knees. I place my left foot in his hands as he threw me up to the window's level. I looked inside and my heart stopped. The scene in the room that I saw, would mark the end of innocence as I knew it.

I could no longer call myself innocent after tonight. I could tell, fate didn't have that in store for me. Sarah was in her room all right, tied down to her bed in seductive clothing. Her hands were bound behind her back and each leg was tied to a different bedpost. My blood boiled. Her father was standing in the corner, practically drooling at the sight in front of him. It made me sick.

I immediately punched the glass to the window and broke it, then jumped inside to confront her father. I heard the sound of wood breaking below as Bear had just kicked the door in and was on his way up. Her father looked at me with bloodlust in his eyes.

"You think you can take away from me what is mine!" He screamed. My eyes narrowed in anger. She wasn't his. She didn't belong to anybody.

"You stay away from her you piece of shit," I threatened with venom in my tone. He smirked. What the hell was he smirking for?

"You think you can tell me how to live my life and what I can do with my daughter?" He practically yelled.

"You bet your ass I do!" I exclaimed, my eyes never leaving his. "Scum like you are sick and depraved. You monsters have no right to claim anything but a death warrant for you to sign. I don't know what kind of shit you pulled with her friends before, or with anyone before, but I can guarantee you've never fucked with someone like me before." I raised my arms into a fighting stance. The noise of Bear coming up the stairs had stopped. He was lying in wait. Sarah's father began to laugh again.

"You're an interesting child," he said intending to mock me. "I've never seen anyone with the guts to stand up to an older man like me before." He paused to hold up his hands to about eye level, then smiled smugly. "I won't lie to you, I've killed a man with these hands before. I held his life in my hands and I crushed it. I doubt you've ever done something like that, or that you even have the guts to pull off such a deed." He began to laugh evilly.

"Try me," I egged him on. He pulled out a butcher's knife he'd been keeping in his back pocket and charged me. This man really was fucked up. He brought the blade to cut me across the throat, but I managed to dodge just enough to get cut across the cheek instead.

"Foolish boy," he said as he licked my blood off the knife. "I told you I had no problem killing you. Did you think I was bluffing?" I smiled.

"No, I didn't," I answered. "But at least now I've got a self defense claim."

"You're confident," he mused, running the blade across his arm. "I like those types."

"You're a sick prick." He charged me again, this time trying to stab me in the stomach. I managed to twist enough to make the attack miss entirely. He brought it back for another slash that cut me across my chest. Thankfully it only cut my shirt and didn't slice the skin. I stepped back a bit and looked around. There were several candles around that were flickering as we fought. He rushed me again, once more going for the stab. This time I caught his arm and bent it backwards by slamming my knee into the joint, making him drop the knife in pain. I quickly picked up the knife to attack, but he kicked me back and I crashed into the bureau the candles were on.

The vibrations from the impact sent the candles to the floor which started a small fire on the floor. Shit! This wasn't looking good. The small fire became a small circle around Sarah's father and myself. We were trapped, there was no doubt about that. He snapped his joint back into place and rushed me again, this time unarmed. I moved just a little too slow and was tackled to the ground. He had his hands around my throat and was trying to strangle me, taking time to slam my head into the ground. I picked up the knife and stabbed it through his arm, making him release his hold. Then, I tackled him to the ground and began to repeatedly stab him in the chest. Bear broke down the door when he heard the slam.

"Get Sarah out of here!" I yelled through the fire. He bolted through, untied her and carried her out. I looked down at my hands still gripping the bloodied knife. Sarah's dad coughed slightly as he stared up at me with a grin. How could he be grinning? He was dying!

"You really are something else you hypocritical piece of shit," he said between bloody coughs. I glared at the dying man at my feet. "You call me scum for doing what I've done in life, yet you've accomplished two of the deeds I've done just today. You've killed me and destroyed my family."

"I've done no such thing," I replied as the dancing flames crept closer. "I protected her from you, from your evil. I may have sinned, and I may see you in the fiery depths of hell, but you'll be tortured, and I'll be the one shoving that spiked pitchfork up your ass!" He continued to laugh painfully as he stared at me. Finally, the laughing stopped, and his breathing ended. His eyes remained open, but it was obvious, he was gone. I waited for my vision to become hazy again, but it didn't. The flames eventually got so close I made desperate jump through the window. I don't know how he knew, but Bear was there waiting for me to do that. He caught me and set me down.

"Now what?" He asked. I looked back up at the fire and heard sirens in the distance.

"Now we wait," I answered. The sirens closed in as firefighters and police rushed out. The firefighters turned their attention to the fire inside while the police seemed to be focused... on me.

"Why are you covered in blood boy?" One of them asked with obvious malice in his tone.

"I had to protect someone I cared about," I responded calmly. "Unfortunately, it meant that someone had to die." The police stared in shock as the firefighters pulled Sarah's father's dead body from the flames, the knife he attacked me with still sticking out of his chest. The police approached me cautiously.

"You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law." The Miranda Rights. I wasn't about to argue, I did what I had to do. "You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you." They reached out to grab my arms, taking great care not to get hit. I rolled my eyes, walked past them and entered the back of the police car.

"Can we just get going?" I asked. The cops stood there dumbfounded. I wonder if they were thinking if they could technically charge me with anything. I didn't resist arrest and willingly entered the police vehicle. The officers entered the car and started it. I looked out at Sarah and Bear and smiled. They shouldn't be worrying. I'll be fine. I had to be. They looked at me sadly as the vehicle pulled away.

* * *

**Zero: -falls to the floor and starts crying-**

**Will: What's wrong with him?**

**Me: Oh, he's lost his innocence.**

**Will: Poor bastard...**

**Bear: Yea... I remember that day...**

**Zero: We all do Bear, I'm just glad we got there in time. So what's next for me?**

**Me: You'll have to wait for chapter 6.**

**Zero: Damn. **


	6. A Flashback to Remember

**Me: Alright! Chapter 6!**

**Zero: Finally! I wanna see what happens next!**

**Me: It's your story Zero, you should know what happens next.**

**Zero: -rubs head sheepishly- Ehehehe... maaaaybe. Ok I have no idea! I wanna see!**

**Me: Fine fine, but someone's gotta do the disclaimer.**

**Zero: All me! Azard doesn't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected. All he owns are the characters and the plot! Thanks again for reading everybody and PLEASE review!**

**Me: Thank you Zero. Now without further ado, let the chapter begin.**

* * *

Chapter 6: A Flashback to Remember

The police headed downtown. The two officers were talking to each other in front, but I wasn't paying attention to either of them. When we got downtown we passed the slums. There was little issue with the police station being built in one of the worst neighborhoods in the city. I just think it was a shame that we had to leave the suburbs just outside of the city to come here. The second we left the police car the air was filled with gunshots and gasps.

"I never thought Zero would get arrested," came an voice from one of the onlookers.

"What do you think he did?" Asked another. I shook my head in slight disappointment. Did they really have nothing better to do than wonder why I was getting out of a police car? The cops led me in and placed me in a holding cell. I ended up sitting down for a moment until they called me out to make my phone call. I ended up calling Bear.

"Hello?" Came Bear's voice from the other side.

"Wow Bear, you got home fast," I said trying to joke.

"Dude, you ok?" He questioned.

"I'm fine," I responded. "I just needed to talk to you about something."

"Ok."

"Listen, obviously they're going to hold me responsible for both the fire and the murder. What I need is for you to watch Sarah once they put me away."

"Don't say that Zero!" Bear yelled from the other side of the phone. In the background I could swear I heard Sarah swearing. "Listen, hold on as long as you can. We'll think of something." I smiled. I had a feeling he would say that.

"Ok bro, I'll hang on for as long as I can, although I don't think they're going to give me much of a grace period."

"Inmate! Your time is up! Hang up the phone!" The officer on duty shouted.

"I'm sorry bro, I gotta go. Take care of things there for me." I hung up the phone. The last thing I heard over the line was Sarah cursing at the top of her lungs. I walked back into my cell and sat down on the bed. I waited for my vision to become hazy and wake back up in the real world. Once again, it never came. A gangly man in a suave suit came inside the cell and talked to me.

"You're in quite the predicament young man," he said almost snidely. I already didn't like this guy.

"Apparently so, and who might I ask are you?"

"I'm Gerald Svalik, the district attorney. Maybe we can get you off the hook with an insanity plea."

"Wait, wait, what?" I asked astonished. "I'm nowhere near innocent, granted, but I did what I had to not only in my own defense, but in the defense of someone else!"

"Oh, that's even better!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Well, I'm the only attorney that would take the case, and I'm working this Pro Bono, so you're stuck with me." Fuck, I was afraid of that. This was obviously one of those assholes that only cared about two things: money and his image. Why is my luck so fucking bad today?

"Hey kid," one of the guards on duty began, "c'mon, time for questioning." He led me and my... ugh, attorney to the questioning room where two other officers were waiting.

"Have a seat," one of them said kindly, which shocked me a little. "I'm Captain Mitchell and that's Detective Harold." I sat down in the seat across from them.

"We'd like to ask you a few questions pertaining to what happened," the detective said.

"Sure, fire away," I said.

"Hold it, hold it. I would advise against answering any questions at this time," Svalik chimed in.

"Ya know Mr. Attorney," as I chose to call him, "make yourself useful and do some paperwork. I can handle myself here." He grumbled for a moment then sat down and began to work on his filing. "My apologies for his behavior as he is an idiot. Now, if you please." The detective and the captain smiled. Apparently, I'd already gotten them to like me. They pushed the record button on their tape recorder and began.

"Ok then," Mitchell began. "First question, what exactly drove you to set fire to that house?"

"I'd advise you not to answer that," Gerald stated. I sighed and shook my head.

"That was, in all truthfulness, an accident. While I was fighting with Sarah's father, he kicked me in the gut and I hit a bureau that had several candles on it. The candles hit the floor and started the fire." Mitchell and Harold looked at each other and nodded.

"Will you stick by that statement?" Harold questioned. I nodded in response. "Ok then, second question. Why did you break into the house?"

"I'd advise you not to answer that," Gerald repeated. I face palmed and looked at the officers again.

"Sarah has been a good friend of mine for some time. She's been a friend since my friend and I stopped her from killing herself several months ago."

"She was going to commit suicide?" Mitchell inquired.

"Yes. We managed to stop her and she told us she was having difficulty at home. She said it had something to do with her father, but never got into specifics. Recently, she told us that her father was molesting her, and we realized we had to get her out of there."

"Why didn't you call the police?" Harold asked.

"The police may not have made it on time," I answered. "Even if they did, all the man had to do was hide her while he answered the officers' questions, then they'd be on their way and he could start whatever it was he was doing again." The officers looked at each other again, then motioned for me to continue if there was more. There was... so much more. "Since we knew the flaws within the department, we chose to take matters into our own hands. My friend and I chose to do it at night so we could get her away then we'd call the police since now we had the witness protected from him."

"And you attacked him because?" It was Mitchell again.

"I'd advise you not to answer that question." I sighed heavily again.

"Forgive me for answering with a question officer, but do you have anyone that's absolutely precious to you?" Both officers looked at each other and nodded.

"My wife, children, and my best friends," both answered at the same time.

"Now what would you do if you found out that one of those people were being ruthlessly tormented by someone to the point of mental breakdown, and what if that person was a member of their own family?"

"Kill them," they answered without hesitation.

"Now image what it was like to be me, finding one of my best friends tied to her own bed in seductive clothing, hands tied behind her back and each of her legs tied to a different bedpost for..." I shuddered, "easy access." In truth, I hated myself for saying something like that; the officers also seemed to pick up on that.

"I don't think I can blame you," Harold admitted.

"Me either," Mitchell followed suit.

"Not only that, but I told him-"

"As your attorney I'd really advise against-" Svalik cut me off.

"Ya know, why don't you leave? I don't need you here. Just get the tape of the conversation when we're done." This time I cut him off. He grumbled and stormed out. "Sorry about that. Anyway, I told him to stay away from her, but he wouldn't listen and threatened me. Then, he pulled out a butcher's knife and attacked me. Sarah herself is a witness to this, though I don't think she'd want to recount such a thing." The officers nodded again, obviously understanding.

"So you did kill him?" Harold asked. I nodded.

"I did, but only in the defense of my friend and myself." I looked away as the two officers got up and patted me on the back.

"It's ok kid," Mitchell stated. "We got all that we need, and you can go back to the holding cell until we can get in touch with your parents."

"You're not going to," I added. "They're almost never home and they never answer their cell phones." The officers exchanged glances and showed me out. The next day I was summoned to the doctor's office where he ran a full diagnostic on me. He told me it was for the trial, so I complied. This memory was taking way too long for my liking. I was in that holding cell for almost a week, a full week of waiting for this flashback to end. No one visited me at all. I almost began to wonder if my friends forgot about me. I shook my head at my own stupidity. There's no way they did.

Eventually my court date came and I was led into the courtroom by about three bailiffs. Cowards. Why the hell were police officers so afraid of me? Then again, the site of Sarah's mutilated father wasn't exactly pleasant. They might have figured anyone that could do that was extremely dangerous.

"Court is now in session. The trial of ... 'Zero' ... is now in session. I blanked out when they said my name. Just perfect... I can't even figure out who I am in my own memories. I turned my head and glanced around the courtroom to see who was there. The football team was there, as was the student council, but no clique. Where were they? "The honorable Judge Ceruno presiding."

"Looks like your friends forgot about you huh?" The prosecutor asked. In truth, I wanted to run over to him and punch him right in that smug face of his.

"Is the prosecution ready?" Judge Ceruno asked. He received a smile and a nod from the prosecution. "And the defense?"

"Not quite your honor!" Came a voice from the back. I turned back and saw them... the clique. They had all shown up. "My friend and I will also be representing Zero."

"And you are?"

"Sean Teri, but my friends know me as 'Ash'," he responded.

"Travis Frole, but my friends know me as 'Razor'," my second friend answered.

"You're a little young to be defending your friend on such a serious charge aren't you?"

"No, your Honor. In fact, we're more familiar with this case than anyone else in this courtroom, save our friends."

"Your Honor, you can't seriously be thinking of allowing this!" The prosecution exclaimed.

"If they claim to know about the case, I say we give them a chance to prove it. If they don't, I'll have the bailiff remove them. Is this acceptable?" There were nods from both sides.

"I won't stand for this!" Svalik cried.

"Mr. Svalik, I don't believe I shall require your services any longer. Consider yourself fired," I stated smugly.

"You would trust these brats over me?" Svalik asked enraged.

"With my life," I replied without hesitation.

"You'll regret this boy," Svalik threatened.

"I believe my friend said he didn't require your services any longer," Razor stated. "You may leave now." Gerald Svalik packed his briefcase and stormed out once more. I hoped he wouldn't return anytime soon.

"Thanks guys," I said.

"We're friends Zero," Ash began.

"We stick together no matter what." Razor finished.

"Very well. How does the defendant plea on the charge of First Degree Murder?" Ceruno asked.

"We would like to issue the claim of Justified Self-Defense," Ash answered.

"And on the charge of First Degree Arson?"

"Not guilty," this time Razor answered.

"Ok then. The prosecution will give its opening statement." The prosecutor smiled.

"Of course your Honor," he said. "Our case is rather simple." He steadily walked over to the jury. "The defendant has had heard some conflicting things about the victim in the past. As such, with only having heard negative things about the victim, decided that the victim was unfit to live. As such, the defendant sought out the victim, set the house on fire and stabbed him repeatedly just in case the frontal confrontation failed. This individual is clearly too dangerous to be allowed free roam of our city streets. If he had no issue performing this deed and confessing to said deed, how can we trust this person among those which we hold most dear? Thank you."

He's an asshole. It was obvious that this man didn't read the whole case or he didn't care.

"The defense will give their opening statement."

"Yes, your Honor," Razor said standing up. "Our opponent would have you believe that our client is a mentally unstable individual who prizes the amount of blood he manages to spill. This is a lie of the highest order, as anyone who knows our client knows he cannot and would not harm anyone unless there was a present threat to him or someone he cares about. The prosecution would have you believe that Zero here is a person who is easily swayed by the words of others, but not just any others, everyone. The only people here who Zero will listen to are his closest friends. Not only are the prosecution's claims nonsense, but it's also defamation of his character, which is punishable by law. Our client does not deny killing the victim, but because he did so in the defense of not only himself but another friend who will testify today. Thank you."

I turned my head to Sarah after I heard that. She looked me in the eyes and nodded. She was going to testify about that emotionally scarring event to help me. I smiled.

"Thank you counselor," Judge Ceruno nodded. "Ok, Mr. Accely you may call your first witness."

"Your Honor, the prosecution calls the detective in charge of the homicide, Roderick Benoit." A big man with a scrappy trench coat and short brown hair showed up and took the stand. The bailiff approached him.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?" The bailiff asked.

"I do," Benoit replied. Mr. Accely walked up to the witness stand.

"Now then, I'm sure we'd would all like to know, how exactly did the fire start?" Accely asked.

"At first it looks like arson, but that isn't the case. Upon inspection of the area, we found no signs that the fire was started from outside. The evidence we found shows the fire started due to a few candles that hit the floor due to a struggle most likely between the defendant and the victim." Accely shut up after that. He had a stupefied expression on his face that didn't want to leave.

"No more questions your Honor," Accely said after a moment of silence.

"Does the defense have any questions?"

"Not for this witness your Honor," Ash responded.

"Very well then. Does the defense have any witness they'd like to call?"

"We have two your honor," Razor said. "As our first witness, we'd like to call Sarah Valore to the stand." Sarah stood up from her seat and walked to the stand.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?" The bailiff questioned. Sarah nodded.

"Ms. Valore, may we call you Sarah?" Ash asked. Sarah giggled.

"Only if I can call you two Ash and Razor," she replied.

"Of course you can," Ash chuckled. He got me chuckling too. "How long have you known Zero?"

"About four months," Sarah answered.

"And has he proven to be a worthy, trustful friend in that time?"

"I object to this witness on the grounds that she may be unreliable," Accely stated. "I'd like to check her to see if she is trustworthy." I rolled my eyes.

"Granted," Ceruno said. Ash sat back down and gave me a smug smile.

"Now then, Ms. Valore, may _I_ call you Sarah?"

"You may not." Again, Accely was speechless.

"Very well. Ms. Valore, how did you witness this terrible, terrible event?" Ash and Razor had grins that met their ears.

"My father tied me to my bed with the intent to rape me, Zero saw and broke in to protect me. My dad charged him with a butcher's knife and Zero fought him unarmed. I saw it all with a front seat view." Accely took a few steps away and swore under his breath.

"Has your father ever done anything like this before?"

"Not to this extreme, but he has molested me before."

"Then why didn't you call the police?"

"I did, but when the police came my father would tell them nothing was wrong and kept me away from them so I could never talk to them."

"Well, I doubt you've called that many times."

"Your Honor, we do have proof of her repeated calls to the police department," Razor interjected. Razor reached into his briefcase and pulled out a file that must have been thirty pages long. The room grew so silent you could hear a pin drop. If the judge's mouth could stretch it would have went through the floor to the basement. The bailiff took the files and handed them to the judge.

"That is the amount I've called in the last six years. Never once did the police do anything."

"Do you want to question _that_ Accely?" Razor shot out.

"No more questions your honor," Accely droned before he skulked to his seat. I wanted to laugh so badly but I knew I shouldn't.

"No further questions for this witness your Honor. I think Mr. Accely asked everything we needed to. If your Honor allows, we'd like to call our last witness." Ceruno nodded. "As our last witness we'd like to call Zero himself to the stand." It was my time to shine I suppose. I got up, did the oath and waited for the onslaught of questions.

"I'll go first," Accely stated, once more rising from his seat. "Now, Mr.-"

"Just call me Zero," I interrupted him.

"Fine then. Zero, did you go after Mr. Valore for blood?" Was he serious?

"No I didn't. I originally intended to remove Sarah from his custody. I was still going to go through with that until he charged me with a knife."

"A butcher's knife correct?" I nodded. Now Accely had a smug look on his face. "Then why are your fingerprints on the knife?" How exactly did this guy graduate from law school? Maybe he bribed the teachers.

"Well, I managed to disarm him and picked up the knife to use in defense. I believed that if I held the weapon I might have been able to get him to back off. Instead, he charged me again, choked me and slammed my head into the ground. He was threatening my life."

"How can we discern whether or not he's telling the truth?" Razor stood up again with another file.

"This medical chart of a diagnostic that was performed the day after Zero's arrest reveals marks on his neck from having been chocked as well as a near concussion. Not only that, there were two sets of both blood and fingerprints on the knife, belonging to the victim and our client. The blood that was on for the longest period of time was our client's, and the fingerprints that were on longest belonged to the victim, indicating that he did indeed attack our client first."

"Then how did the fire start?" The judge noticed Ash and Razor being oddly relaxed yet annoyed in their seats.

"Do you object to any of this Mr. Frole? Mr. Teri?" Ceruno inquired.

"He's doing our job for us, so we'll just sit back and watch," Razor responded.

"After I picked up the knife, he kicked me into a bureau that had several lit candles on it. The impact sent the candles to the floor and that started the fire."

"The prosecution rests." Accely went back to seat for the last time, utterly defeated.

"The jury will now deliberate their verdict." The jury walked out to decide and the judge adjourned the court until the time came. Three days later they emerged with their verdict. "Has the jury reached a verdict?"

"We have your honor," the lead juror said. "On the charge of murder in the first degree, we find the defendant... not guilty by reason of Justified Self-Defense. On the charge of arson, we find the defendant... not guilty." The judges gavel slamming on that table was music to my ears.

"We did it!" The clique shouted at the same time.

"Well done bro," Bear congratulated me.

"Good to see you're ok," Sarah followed suit.

"Dude, you were in some deep shit! Good to see you're outta it," Gimpy added.

"Thanks guys, I owe ya," I said. The clique nearly killed me with the group hug that followed. As we all came together my vision became hazy. This is it. It's over. I woke up riding on something. When my vision cleared, I found myself draped over Bear's shoulder. "You guys suck." They all seemed to snap out of it as Bear let me down.

"You really picked a bad time to have a flashback!" Will yelled at me.

"I couldn't help it! Wait, how did I get out of the ring of fire?"

"Bear threw me through the flames and I grabbed you as I flew by," Sarah responded. "I'm glad we made it in time."

"What about the mission?" Will made a motion and the girl stepped out from behind the boys and looked me in the eyes. I smiled. "Good to see we succeeded." She turned pink again and turned her head. We made our way to the house around nightfall and decided to talk about what happens next.

"So what did you want Zero?" Will asked me.

"What are you and your crew going to do now?" I questioned.

"Well the boys are going to move on," Will answered.

"What about you and the girl?"

"Erin."

"Right, Erin." Pretty name. Dammit! I'm doing it again! "What are you and Erin going to do?"

"She's told me she feels safe here, so she's going to stay." She feels safe here? "As for me... I couldn't leave my brother alone when he's going to need my help. We're family, always have been, always will be."

"Thanks bro. Take your pick of rooms and get some rest." Will nodded and left. I smiled. I leaned back on the bed that was in my room and watched the ceiling. I can't believe I forgot how easily Razor could adapt to a situation and how prepared he used to be. Now his death made even less sense. Soon enough, the darkness claimed me once again.

* * *

**Zero: ...Wow.**

**Bear: Something wrong Zero?**

**Zero: No, its just... wow... I have the best friends.**

**Ash: Well, we weren't about to let you get found guilty! You're our brother too dammit.**

**Me: How touching.**

**Zero: I think that's the longest chapter you've written yet.**

**Me: It is. All that's left is to see how the story progresses from here. Thanks again for reading everyone, and I'll see you next time.**


	7. Complications

**Me: Chapter 7. Thank hell.**

**Zero: Nice... After that bloody and legal ass kicking I need a break.**

**Me: He he. You're so going to hate me then.**

**Zero: Why?**

**Me: Just read and find out. There's no fight but there's something else.**

**Zero: Huh?**

**Bear: Disclaimer's mine! Azard doesn't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected. All he owns are the characters and the plot!**

**Me: Thanks Bear. Read and Review please. Also, enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Complications

The rising morning sun shone through the window and woke me up. Damn it, just when I was enjoying my rest. I rose from the bed I was laying on and stretched. Now I remember why I didn't sleep. My muscles are stiff as hell in the morning after sleep. I walked over to the closet and found a body length mirror which I looked into. Only now did I finally notice what I was wearing for the past three months. I had on a light gray sweatshirt with gray sweatpants and black shoes to finish the ensemble if you could call it that. Regardless of how simple it was, it was comfortable.

"Morning Zero," Will's voice came from the doorway.

"Morning," I replied. "What's the good word?" Why did I ask that question so stupidly?

"Nothing much is good I'm afraid," Will solemnly said. "I managed to find a radio last night and got it to work." Will was the tech head in the family. He could fix damn near anything that ran on electricity.

"That doesn't sound too bad."

"It wouldn't be if music was the only thing on it." That caught my attention. "There seems to be some kind of message that's being played between songs. It's not good."

"What's the message?"

"I'm not sure, I haven't cracked the static code but I'll spend some time working on it."

"Don't stress over it bro."

"Maybe we should be stressed," he said. "We don't know what this message contains. It could be anything! I'm going to try and crack the code." With that said, he walked hastily away from my room. I walked to the kitchen to find Erin sitting there. She turned to look at me and I noticed her eyes were red. Not the 'I didn't get any sleep last night' red, but the 'I've been crying for half the night' type red. Her cheeks were puffy as well and she definitely spent some time crying this morning.

"What's wrong?" I asked. She looked at me puzzled and I face palmed at forgetting she couldn't understand me.

"He asked you what's wrong," Will translated as he took a seat next to her with the radio.

"N-nothing," She replied softly.

"Bullshit," I droned, then remembering my brother added, "Don't translate that."

"I'll explain later bro. Erin, isn't there something you'd like to talk to him about?" Will was acting weird... weird_er_.

"No, no I don't," she replied before she got up and walked out of the room.

"What's up with her?" I questioned.

"You used to be oblivious," Will began, "and you still are, even in death." I looked at him quizzically. What the hell was he talking about? "You always were one of the smart ones, but when it came to you it was impossible to get a message to you if it wasn't up in your face."

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean subtlety was lost on you. You always needed a direct confrontation to figure some things out." Great, my own brother was ridiculing me.

"I don't need you being a smart ass."

"Ok, let me prove it. I'll tell you why she was crying and you see if you can figure out why it happened in the first place." I nodded. "After I went to my room last night I ran into Erin. She asked why she couldn't understand you since you so obviously spoke during the trip back. I told her you had died and became a hunter. That's when she went into her room and started crying."

I thought about it for a moment. Why would she start crying over something like that? We didn't know each other too well. I vaguely recall her coming to a bunch of football games, but that's about it. The only other times I'd seen her she'd been reading, or I'd accidentally bump into her and get hazed by the clique. From what I understood, she was just someone who was there. I don't get it.

"Why the hell would she cry over something like that?" I finally voiced my thoughts. "That doesn't make any damn sense!"

"Case and point brother, case and point."

"What are you two talking about?" Ash asked as he walked in.

"He's saying I'm oblivious," I responded.

"You are," they both said at the same time.

"How?"

"Can you tell him?" Will questioned. Ash looked at him and shook his head. "He's got to figure it out on his own?" Ash nodded. "Makes sense."

"To you," I added, just then remembering how confusing my thought processes have been lately. "Hey Ash, can I ask you something?"

"You just did," Ash replied. I visibly twitched.

"Don't be a wise ass."

"Aw, but it's so much fun. Oh well, what is it?"

"Is it possible for us special infected to retain things other than memories from our former lives?"

"You look at Bear and Sarah and you have to ask that?"

"I'm not talking about just emotions!" I yelled. "I'm talking about... hormones and such..." I said that last bit a little embarrassed. Ash smiled.

"I think so," Ash said. "It seems that we've just been changed physically instead of mentally, and we've changed a little biologically but hormones and such could have stayed the same. So, yea, your hormones could still be intact. Why do you ask?" I motioned for him to come closer.

"I think I'm... attracted to that Erin girl that's been traveling with Will," I whispered in his ear. His smile got bigger, if it was possible. "I mean, I've noticed a couple things since then and for some reason my body's been reacting in... ways." Ash's grin became almost feral. "I don't mean perversely! I mean I think I've... blushed and felt an attraction... physically anyway. I keep seeing her in my flashbacks too. Maybe it's just a phase or a coincidence."

"It's more than that," Ash stated grinning like a madman. "You've got a crush."

"No I don't!"

"Yes you do. Excuse me for a moment." Ash walked out of the room. "GLORY FUCKING HALLELUJAH! HE'S SEEN THE MAGIC OF LOVE AT LAST!" After that loud yell that promptly woke everyone up, Ash walked back in the kitchen and sat next to me. "Now, you were saying?"

"What the hell was that for?" I yelled rubbing my ears.

"Our little leader's becoming a man," Ash said grabbing me in a death hug.

"What happened?" Bear asked as he and Sarah came into the kitchen followed shortly after by Erin.

"Our little Zero's becoming a man!" Ash repeated happily still holding me in the death hug. Bear and Sarah soon joined in nearly crushing me into nothing.

"What's going on?" Erin asked Will in a whisper.

"I'm not entirely sure," he replied lowly still tinkering with the radio. "I've been picking up bits and pieces of their speech for a little and I'm starting to understand them."

"How?" Erin questioned.

"If you listen to them talk long enough, it starts to come to you. From what I picked up, it sounded like, 'Zero's becoming a man.' As to why, I haven't the slightest idea. I didn't hear what he whispered to Ash."

"He said he's attracted to your little friend there Will," Ash said still grinning.

"You... bastard," I managed to get out from being crushed. Will's eyes widened slightly and he smiled shortly after.

"What?" Erin asked.

"Don't worry about it for now. I'll only say there's still hope," Will replied suppressing his own grin. Eventually I made my way out of the death hug and sat back down.

"You two hungry?" I asked. Will translated and both he and Erin nodded. "Ok, I'll get some food."

"No way bro," Ash interrupted me. "I'll go. You stay here and... catch up with your little friend." He chuckled madly before he left the house.

"I'm the fastest one here and he wants me to stay behind? I could get this done in a tenth of the time it'd take him!" Perhaps I am overestimating my own abilities, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm much faster than him.

"Just sit back and relax Zero," Will stated trying not to make it sound like an order. "Don't think about it too much."

"I agree with your brother," Sarah added placing her hand on my shoulder to try and calm me. I swear Erin's face flared red when Sarah did that, a look of utter determination on her face.

"Take it easy Zero," Bear chimed in. "I'm sure he has his reasons. Ash has always been that way."

"Indeed he has," I stated remembering some of the stuff he used to do. Ash returned nearly an hour later with some eggs, bread, pop-tarts, butter, salt, pepper, cheese, english muffins, chocolate and bacon all in a bag he'd slung over his shoulder.

"You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find a supermarket that still has good food in it," he said placing the food on the table.

"I believe it," I said.

"Me too," Bear added.

"Me three," Sarah continued. Ash laughed.

"Well, you can make yourselves breakfast with those," I stated as I got up. "Where did you find that stuff?"

"There's still a market in a relatively clean part of town," Ash replied. "I just walked in and took the stuff."

"Nobody shot at you?" Bear questioned.

"Nope, I had a note written that stated I was sick, my parents weren't around and that I needed food. They helped me from there. All I had to do was make sure not to speak or reveal my tongue. They thought I was just a really sick teen." We chuckled.

"I knew normals could be stupid but not _that _stupid," I laughed.

"I'm as surprised as you are," Ash revealed. "Well, I think things just got more complicated."

"How so?" Sarah questioned.

"Well," Ash began, "We now have two normals living with us that we have to protect." We all nodded. "There's some kind of hidden message that Will is trying to locate and translate." Another group nod. "Sarah, you and Bear are technically an item." Sarah and Bear looked at each other and blushed. How could that work out any- no, no, not going to think about that. "We've got some people with hormones running wild." Sarah and Bear grinned while I looked away. "Lastly, our Zero here has finally admitted he has feelings for someone."

"I have not!"

"You admitted you find her attractive."

"So what? That doesn't mean anything is going to come from it! For damn's sake, she's a normal and I'm an infected! That would never work out!"

"Going a little quickly there, eh Zero?" Ash smugly asked. "I just said you found her attractive, I never said anything about going further than that." I blushed... again. Dammit.

"Go fuck yourself," I said.

"Don't worry about it, there are ways to get around everything. Until then, our normal tenants have to learn our language."

"How are we going to do that?" Bear questioned.

"It seems talking to them gets results fairly well. Will admitted that he's begun picking up bits and pieces of our speech by listening to us talk to each other," Ash explained.

"So you're suggesting that we talk to each other in front of them so they can get a better grasp of our language until they can perfectly understand us," Sarah pointed out.

"Correct. It will take some time, of that I have no doubt, but-"

"Cut the fancy talk shit Ash, it doesn't suit you," I stated with a grin. He grinned back.

"Fine, it's going to take a while, without a doubt. Also if we play our cards right, we could have found a permanent home here."

"So we also have to keep up appearances to keep normals away from us and keep ourselves and our normal friends safe."

"Yes." We all nodded.

"Keep your heads on straight guys," I said. "It's a long road from here." I walked out of the house after all that. I wanted to check out the city. Things really did get more complicated in the short time since we've reunited. Turning to face the still rising sun, I walked toward it, and the city.

* * *

**Me: There you go.**

**Zero: Kinda short isn't it?**

**Me: Yea, but it's kind of a setting chapter.**

**Zero: Meaning?**

**Ash: Setting the stage for future events.**

**Zero: Oh... Also, did you have to yell so damned loud Ash?**

**Ash: Yep. It's about time that happened.**

**Me: See you next time everyone! **


	8. Return

**Zero: Chapter 8! Yea!**

**Ash: Somehow I'm not surprised he's doing this.**

**Bear: None of us are.**

**Me: Well, can you honestly say you aren't waiting to see where this is leading?**

**Bear and Ash: Point made.**

**Ash: I got the disclaimer. Azard doesn't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected, both of which belong to Valve. All he owns are the characters and the plot.**

**Me: Thanks Ash. Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 8: Return

I kept up a steady pace as I walked into the city. I hated to admit it, but being an infected did have its perks. I could walk through the streets crowded with infected and not have to worry about being attacked by them. The only problem came from the presence of armed normals. I admit I haven't seen many normals being unarmed, Erin comes to mind, but I usually left them on their way or showed them how to get out. Normals still had a weird way of showing affection for receiving aid. Some bowed respectfully and thanked me, others picked up some kind of weapon and tried to kill me.

Admittedly, I usually let them live. Overwhelming fear has the ability to do that to a person. Granted, I've become less tolerant of it as of late, but the point still stands. I looked at my clothes again and figured I should at least get something new. I should try to make myself look less like an obvious infected and more like a normal to blend in. The infected still won't attack me and the normals should believe that I'm a mute albino as long as I don't speak.

"You again huh?" A familiar, grating voice called to me. I turned my head to see the Smoker from before walking up to me. "So I see you decided to take my advice and ditch the idiots you called 'friends'. Well done."

"You're crazy if you think I'm still not with my friends," I responded.

"You really are ignorant aren't you?" He asked with a quick cough and shake of his head.

"No, I'm the smartest creature here," I replied.

"Believe what you like fool, but I'll be cleaning your remains off the floor soon enough."

"I wonder," I began.

"What?"

"What say we have a bet of sorts?" I inquired. His eyes widened slightly which showed me he was interested.

"What kind of bet?" That question solidified it.

"Assemble yourself a group," I said, "and see how long it takes for one of your members to be killed. Whoever loses a member first loses."

"What are the rules?

"Just assemble a group and run it the way you normally would."

"And should I win, what will you give me?" Crap! I hadn't thought that far.

"Anything you want." Simple, yet enough to make anyone take a bet. "And vice-versa for me."

"Very well, upon my victory you will announce to me that not only was my leadership better than yours, but you will also admit you were the idiot who believed friendship was key for survival."

"I accept." I had a feeling this would be an interesting competition. "I would not recommend getting a boomer though, they die with one shot." He nodded. "Upon my victory... well... I'll think about it, but be aware I'll have something planned."

"Accepted." With that said we walked away. I shook my head. He just took a losing bet. I walked into the closest store that I could find and located some clothes I could wear. I had to admit, wearing the gray clothes I had on now definitely made me look like a hunter. I looked around for a moment before I eventually found what I was looking for, something black for stealth at night and would keep me hidden in dark spots. I settled for a black thermal shirt that covered my arms to my wrists with a black t-shirt on top of it. I made a switch from gray to black sweat pants and kept my black shoes.

I quickly glanced at the mirror, noticing that I now looked like a typical goth-like albino kid. At least I didn't fully look like a hunter anymore. I proceeded to walk outside and into yet another crowd of infected. This time however, was slightly different. Gunshots quickly rang out on the horde as the rest of them charged forward. A few of them running by me knocked me down and proceeded to trample over me. The horde was quickly dealt with after a few sounds that seemed to come from a heavy machine gun ripped through the horde. Not a very practical weapon. Seconds later I felt someone nudge me.

"Hey, kid, you okay?" A man's voice asked. I turned over and looked up at him. Dammit! Another normal. I had to play mute so I nodded in response.

"What the hell's an albino doing here?" The female in the group of three asked. She raised her shotgun to my face. "I thought they couldn't be in the sun."

"It's not fully up yet, Jess," A second man from the group said. "He can still be out as long as he's not in the sun for too long and in case you haven't noticed, the sun's not hitting this area." The female called Jess huffed and walked away.

"I apologize for her kid, since the infection she's not very trusting," the first man said again. "I think it's because her boyfriend became an infected and attacked her. I don't think she got over it." I couldn't help but sympathize for her.

"Want to come with us? We're trying to get out of here," the second man offered. I shook my head but bowed nonetheless. "Well, at least let us make with introductions. I'm Patrick, our friend with the shotgun is Jessica, and our leader with the heavy machine gun is Adam." The males reached out with their hands and I shook them. No reason to be not be polite, right? "What's your name kid?" I looked down sadly. I wasn't sad, of course, but I had to play this out perfectly. The female came back and glanced at me again before her eyes widened.

"It can't be... Zero? Is that you?" I recoiled slightly. How did she know?

"You know him Jess?" Adam asked.

"Not officially no," she responded. "I used to work with his mother, and she had a picture of him and his brother on her desk. She told me he hated to be called his real name and went by Zero instead." She was my mother's friend? Fuck! She'd be able to tell I'm not normally pale. Her eyes narrowed as she studied me. Her eyes softened and she gave me a small smile. "Don't worry Zero, I'm not going to hurt you." That didn't exactly make me feel better. Most people could say that until they found out I was infected.

"Well look at that," Patrick said. "Bet you never expected to find a friend of your mother's here did you?" I shook my head and rubbed my neck with my right hand sheepishly.

"We weren't exactly friends," Jessica said. "His mother never spoke about him unless someone asked and she was a pretty big bitch."

"Jessica!" Adam shouted. "I don't think that's-" I cut him off by placing a hand on his shoulder. I grinned and nodded toward Jessica letting Adam and Patrick know she was right. "How the hell did you deal with her then?" I shrugged. Truth be told I didn't remember, but I couldn't very well say that could I? I'd be shot faster than you can say hole-y.

"She seriously never talked about either of her kids," Jessica continued. "I went to her house to give his mother something she'd forgotten and ended up staying for dinner because her parents asked me to. His grandparents spent the entire dinner bragging about him and his younger brother William, how Zero here was on the football team and had a few championships under his belt, as well as Will's multiple basketball awards. While I was having a good time, his parents looked like they were annoyed at all of this. What kind of parents don't brag about their children's achievements?"

I wanted to say, 'My parents,' but I knew better. The second those words came out of my mouth I'd be shotgunned to death. I took this quick opportunity to get a good look at them. Jessica was the tallest of the lot at six foot. She had shoulder-length red hair and blue eyes. She had on a dark gray tank top, blue jean shorts and white sneakers. At least she was ready to run at a second's notice. Patrick was second in line at five foot eleven. He had short blond hair and blue eyes and was wearing a blue t-shirt, comfortable looking jeans and gray sneakers. Adam was last in line at five foot nine. He had short brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a dark blue t-shirt with a black symbol on the front I couldn't recognize, blue jeans, and black sneakers. Fat lot of good that'll do him when he's lugging about fifty to eighty pounds of firepower at any given time.

"Where were they when that happened? I'd think they'd be there for dinner," Adam mused.

"They were at a late practice," Jessica explained.

"Well, let's get going then," Patrick stated. "We've gotta get moving."

"You guys go ahead, I'll catch up," Jessica said. They walked away and she turned to me. "You're smarter than I thought kid." I stared at her quizzically. "You're a hunter, yet you manage to keep up the charade of having life in you." I started to back up... I'm as good as dead. "Relax brat, I'm not going to kill you. Obviously you've kept your intelligence and humanity, so there's no reason to kill you." Logic, such a beautiful thing. "Your mother mentioned your death in passing at work three months ago, almost like she didn't care." I winced at that. I knew she never cared... really... but it still hurt. "Besides, when your grandparents bragged, they completed it with pictures. You were never pale, let alone like this. I'll try to stay in touch, try not to get killed."

"You too," I said, no longer caring.

"I hope you said 'You too,'" She stated. I nodded. She turned and waved as she ran to catch up with her team. I waved back and started to head for home. It wasn't long before more gunshots were heard this time heading straight for me from my left. I leapt to the room of a nearby building and stared down watching. I watched as three normals showed up unloading their rounds into the air. Are they honestly trying to get themselves killed? I thought so. A horde of infected came out and rushed them but were quickly dealt with. After a fit of laughter the normals proceeded to shoot more rounds into the air. So these were the self imposed vigilantes that were only out for blood... and they call us monsters. I watched and waited hoping that something would stop these normals.

A tongue shot from one of the rooftops and hoisted a normal up. I glanced across the street and saw another Smoker attacking. Another creature out for blood... just great. I heard some slamming close by and thought a tank was coming. One of the normals turned and stared at the approaching creature.

"CHARGER!" He cried as the Charger rammed into him with his huge right arm. One thing to note about this guy was he looked like the rest of us, relatively normal except for one overly muscular right arm and a slender left one. Could it be? I leapt off the building I was on and tackled the last normal before he could shoot at the Charger and clawed out his insides. The Smoker finished his strangulation of the one normal and went on his way, satisfied. The Charger finished pounding the normal's head he'd caught into the ground after it wasn't recognizable anymore and turned to me. He grinned widely and tackled me.

"I was wondering when I'd run into you, you son of a bitch!" He said happily.

"Good to see you too Gimpy," I managed to say from his now deadly tackle.

"Oh, by the way, thanks for turning me into this!" Gimpy shouted with no sarcasm in his voice. "I've had so much damned fun with this new body of mine, I don't care about that mindless week anymore!"

"So, you forgive me for attacking you?" I asked.

"What's to forgive?" He responded with his own question. "You had no control over yourself when you attacked, so you're not to blame. Ash was the same way, as was I. None of us could control it. So where are the others?"

"In a small house about a half hour from the city," I told him.

"GIMPY!" Came a voice above us. We looked up and saw Ash standing on the building above us. He jumped down next to us and put a hand on Gimpy's shoulder. "About time you decided to come back. Tired of ramming into people?"

"Never," Gimpy replied then pointed at me while still looking at Ash. "Does he blame himself for what happened?"

"He did," Ash admitted. Gimpy took charge and slammed my head with his right hand sending me into the pavement. "I said he DID, not that he DOES. He got over it. That and I already hit him for you."

"Oh," Gimpy chuckled nervously. "Sorry about that Zero."

"S'alright," I replied, my face still buried in the concrete.

"How about we head back?" Ash suggested. Gimpy nodded as I pulled myself from the floor and nodded as well. We walked back to the house and had a small reunion. Most of the main leaders of the clique were back together. The only one missing... was Razor. After sharing a few stories of what's been going on I ended up crushed in another gigantic bear hug from Gimpy.

"I knew it!" He shouted after hearing of my... episode earlier. "It took you long enough you oblivious bastard!" He started to swing me about in the air almost crashing me into a few things. Will went into the kitchen to finish with the radio he'd found.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked between swings. Gimpy stopped swinging me and I noticed Bear take out some money from his torn pants and handed it to Gimpy. "What the hell?"

"We were betting how long it would take you to notice the girl and develop feelings for her," Gimpy explained. "I won."

"You'd bet on your best friend?" I asked, astonished. They all turned to me and nodded.

"We bet for everyone in the group, speaking of, you owe me thirty bucks Gimpy," Ash said.

"What for?" Gimpy questioned.

"Bear and Sarah are now technically an item!" Ash yelled triumphantly making the two in question blush. Gimpy took some of the money he'd just received and gave it to Ash. "Sweet." Our merriment, however was cut short when Will came back into the room with a horrified look on his face.

"Hey little bro," I greeted him. "What's wrong?"

"Guys," he began. "We've got a big problem."

* * *

**Me: There you go.**

**Ash: This can't be good.**

**Zero: Come on! Cut us some slack!**

**Me: Sorry, gotta keep things interesting. See you next time everyone.**


	9. A Present Need and a Lost Home

**Me: Chapter 9... wow I've never hated what I've done in stories until this.**

**Zero: Lemme guess, we've gotta read to find out.**

**Me: Yep. Anyone wanna handle the disclaimer this time around?**

**Gimpy: Let me! Let me! Azard doesn't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected, all he owns are the characters and the plot!**

**Me: Thank you Gimpy.**

**Gimpy: S'what I do.**

**Me: Ok, everyone read, review, but most importantly enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 9: A Present Need and a Lost Home

We stared at Will as his horrified face showed no signs of recovering. I walked up to Will and led him into the kitchen with the rest of the group following. I sat him down at the table and he pulled the radio close to him. He began to mess with it as we heard the end of a song and the ensuing static.

"What's wrong lil' b?" I asked. He stared at me and continued to mess with the radio.

"Just listen," was his response. The static continued for three seconds.

"–elcome to a new future!" Came a voice over the radio as the static cleared. The voice itself was masculine in origin. "Let me be the first to congratulate all those who've survived this horrifying experience. This is a special report to tell you all of the scientific breakthrough we've had in the war against the infected." That's not good. "We've developed a new type of weapon by using the infected genes from Project A to create not only a weapon against the infected, but also a cure that will only harm the infected!"

"That's bullshit!" Ash shouted. "I was Project A and they tested their vaccine on me! They never took any genes from me to make an antidote! They're lying about the cure part, I just know it! This thing they have is a weapon that will not only kill infected, but it'll also kill innocents!" I cringed. Could they really be that damned stupid?

"That's not the worst part," Will continued. We huddled closer to the radio.

"This is a special message to all those who live in Mercy City!" Our home city? What are they planning? "We will be dropping these miracle bombs shortly on the city and its surrounding areas, by the weeks end at the earliest." I looked at the calendar. Friday. I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head. "To all those uninfected out there, you may be at peace in the knowledge that this war is close to being over! You need not live in fear any longer!"

"I... I can't believe it," I said. "They're going to kill every human in the city."

"Worst of all, there's nothing we can do about it," Will added. "Well, no short of finding a radio tower and broadcasting ourselves but they'll never listen. One message on that thing and everyone will be hunting us down." Dammit dammit dammit!

"So we can't do anything?" I questioned.

"We can escape," Will replied. "That's all we can do for now." There was sadness in his voice. No one could blame him. Now we had to escape from our own home before we died.

"Ok then," I began, "Will, get Erin and tell her to pack her things." Will nodded and rushed out. I turned to the rest of the group. "We'll be moving quickly so Bear, I need you to carry Sarah, Will and Erin."

"You can count on me," Bear chimed in.

"Ash, you'll take the food and take the front with me, Sarah you keep a lookout from Bear's shoulder." They both nodded and packed the stuff. "Gimpy, you cover the rear." He looked at me questioningly.

"Is this another ramming joke?" He queried.

"Yes, yes it is," I deadpanned. Even in times of crisis, morale is important. "We're leaving ASAP so move it!" Three months is nowhere near enough time to come up with a cure to this disease, let alone a weapon that can only harm us. We all met up outside the house and set off as fast as we could. I looked at the sun as we ran; it was starting to set. We were really running out of what little time we had. Bear's earthquake steps drew a lot of attention, but thankfully it was only infected and they left us alone.

"Where to now guys?" Sarah asked sadly. "We just had a home and lost it so quickly... Where are we supposed to go?"

"I don't know," I admitted. This was painful for me too. "Right now we have to get away from here, until we get safely away we can't afford to stop. Will, you and Erin try and locate a suitable dwelling once we get out of here." Will nodded and translated for Erin.

"This sucks," Ash complained. "I was hoping to settle down and have a family."

"A family?" I questioned. "With who or what?"

"I was thinking perhaps a nice witch," Ash said then pointed to me. "Or I might go your route and find a nice normal girl."

"Will you get off of that? It isn't like that."

"Suuuuure it isn't," came the group response. Will and Erin however remained silent. Erin was confused and Will had a hand over his mouth to keep himself from laughing.

"Shut up and keep moving," I said, now annoyed. We continued on our way until we made our way up a large hill that had a full view of the city and its suburbs. We stopped to rest there and watched our home. I looked up at the sky and saw the moon's position confirming the fact that it was midnight. Then something happened that none of us could have expected. The air was suddenly assaulted by the sound of jet engines as several planes flew overhead and dropped bombs on our home. When they said the end of the week they weren't kidding.

The bombs exploded on contact, leveling hundreds of buildings and sending debris flying into the air. Within moments, the city itself was a torch. The fire covered the entire city as bombs continued to fall upon the unsuspecting city. Jets constantly flew overhead and leveled the suburbs next. The home we were living in was one of the first homes hit. None of us could move from our spot. This was like a train wreck; you can't bear to watch it but can't look away. I heard soft crying from someone in the group. I turned and saw Erin and Sarah hugging each other as tears were streaming down their faces.

I couldn't blame them. This city had been our homes for so long that it hurt like hell to watch this happen. Bear rubbed one of his gigantic arms across his face as he wiped a few tears from his own eyes. Will, Ash and Gimpy watched along with me, just letting the tears fall. Granted we didn't always have the best memories here, but it was still our home. As I watched my home burn, I couldn't help but think of the things that happened here, even after becoming infected. More memories returned to me.

I took my first steps in the city park. My grandparents took me there to play and I ended up walking back and forth between them the entire time. The grammar school, where I met my family. My real family. I remembered how the clique was formed and chuckled. We'd gotten into a stupid fight over who was supposed to use the glue next. After that, we were inseparable as a group. We did everything together, hell we even jumped in the small lake in the city park much to the annoyance of the authorities just for fun. Looks like the glue did its job.

We were menaces in this city, at least to anyone with authority we were. We drove our teachers and our principals up the walls with our antics. I remembered my first football championship. Since my parents were too busy my real family threw me a surprise party at the hangout with all of our friends there. I remembered the first time I saw Erin and much to my annoyance I had that pink tinge on my cheeks then too. She was cute though, hell she still is. I can't believe I knew her since grammar school though.

Will's championship was another fun time for us. My parents kept their 'too busy' attitude and we threw a party for him too. We invited the entire basketball team as we had a party at the local pool. We had everything: punch, some congratulatory gifts, pizza, snacks, the pool and a hot tub that had recently been installed.

I remembered the high school and remembered meeting Sarah. Bear was smitten with her on first sight I think. We could barely have a conversation after she joined the group that he didn't mention her in some way. I chuckled more at the memories. I remembered helping Sarah with some school work one time and Bear got jealous. I think he thought I was stealing her from him. The memories were nice, but painful at the same time. I thought of everyone that made some type of difference in my life, even my parents. If they hadn't been the way they were, I'd never have learned to stand on my own.

I remembered meeting everyone all over again after becoming infected. I remembered the joy I felt in knowing that they were alive. But I remembered the pain in learning about Razor's fate. Being family had its benefits, but it also had its cons. We all felt the pain of a lost family member that day.

I remembered some of the bad times too... and boy were there a lot of them. I remembered having to watch Sarah in that... position before I saved her. I don't think I'll ever forget that image again. I recalled the fight between my parents and myself on several occasions, most often for something stupid like, why I failed my test when they kept me up all night the day before the test and I didn't get to sleep. I ended up sleeping through the test. One of the memories that bothered me the most was the last thing I remember my grandfather telling me before I died.

"No matter what happens, we'll always be proud of you. We'll always be proud to call you our grandson," he told me. I wondered if he'd still be proud of me knowing what I've become and what I've done. I never told him of my court date, instead telling him I'd spent the week with a friend. He was always an inspiration to me. In a way, we were alike. Just like me, he'd overcome the shortcomings of his own family to make a man out of himself and did a damn good job of it. He taught me just about everything I knew. He taught me how to be a man, how to own up for my own wrongdoings, honor and virtue. The code I lived my life by and I always will. He disappeared shortly after I'd fallen ill and died. I found myself returning to wondering what happened to him.

I shook that thought from my head. Perhaps it was best I didn't know. It was always a possibility. Thinking about it, I realized I wouldn't want to know if he'd died when the outbreak occurred, and I certainly didn't want to think he was still in the city as this atrocity was occurring. I sighed in defeat as I took another glance over the city. I think what hurt the most, is that we couldn't save anyone. We're not superheroes. We can't save everyone. The most we can do is watch out for each other and make the best of everything.

"Are you okay Zero?" Gimpy asked. I looked at him and saw the tears still dropping, ever slowly from his eyes.

"Yea, I'm fine," I replied.

"Don't hold it in," Ash told me. "If you want to cry, just cry. We won't think any less of you."

"I know you won't," I informed him. "But, I don't know if I have any tears left." They looked at me and nodded. This was painful for all of us and I was trying to be the one to remain strong through it all. Someone had to.

We stood there and watched the city burn, from the skyline on top of the hill, 'till there was nothing left of her. We watched our city burn as the sky turned red and ashes filled the air. We watched our city burn as screams echoed across the land of unfortunate normals that remained in the city and were now being killed by the very people they'd trusted to protect them. We watched our city burn to the ground, the corpses piling up in the streets. There was nothing we could've done. We stood there and watched the buildings collapse. The bombs kept dropping and buildings kept falling.

"I can't believe it," Erin cried out in between tears. "Our home... it's gone."

"I can," Will said. "People can't seem to leave things like they are and let nature take its course."

"Welcome to the world we live in," Bear added.

"Population: A shit load of retards," Ash finished.

"Can't do shit with them, can't do shit without 'em," Gimpy joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"This is horrible," Sarah said, her eyes still filled with tears. "Did they know? Did they know this was going to happen?"

"I have a feeling they did," I revealed.

"Yea, they knew there was no cure," Ash continued. "They went through with this as a type of purging. They're purging the illness from the world, even if they have to nearly wipe out the population to do it."

"Son of a bitch," Gimpy spoke. "Why the hell would they do this?"

"They're stupid," I deadpanned. "There's no other explanation."

"Everything we knew and loved is gone," Sarah cried holding onto Erin.

"That's not true. We still have our family," Bear consoled her.

"It's something we'll always have," Gimpy began.

"No matter what happens," Ash continued.

"To the very end of time itself," I finished. Sarah looked toward us with tears in her eyes and nodded.

"Now we just have to find a new home, new memories and a new beginning," Ash said hopefully.

"We'll find it too," I said. "We just have to look hard enough." We turned one final time to look at our former home burn. Just as we turned away, I finally allowed a tear to fall.

* * *

**Me: So did I succeed?**

**Zero: With what?**

**Me: Making you guys seem more human than infected.**

**Ash: Appearance and abilities aside I think so... but damn... now what?**

**Me: You'll just have to wait and see. Also, the chapter about them watching the city burning is a re-worded excerpt of "City" by Hollywood Undead which I also don't own.**

**Bear: So it's all gone...**

**Me: Yeah... Well, I'll see you next time everyone. Be good and be safe.**


	10. A Nighttime Talk

**Me: Chapter 10 is done... at last. This one was kinda tough to write.**

**Zero: Why is that?**

**Me: Well, how exactly do you continue from where I left off?**

**Zero: ... Good point.**

**Me: Either way, I think I did fairly well here.**

**Zero: Me too. I've got the disclaimer. Azard doesn't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected. All he owns are the characters and the plot.**

**Me: Thanks as always Zero. Read, Review, but most important... Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 10: A Nighttime Talk

We camped out about another mile from the hilltop. We didn't really want to go any further, not that I blamed anyone. Seeing something like that has enough power to suck the life out of someone. I chose to stand guard again and sat near Will and Erin as they slept. The others spread out and stayed in different areas. Bear stayed in a nearby cave, to which I laughed at the irony behind it.

Sarah, obviously, stayed with Bear, Ash stayed in a nearby tree, and Gimpy dug a hole in the ground about half his size and stayed in it. I still have no idea how he fit in that hole. This was a good plan. The infected hid from sight and the most human-like one stayed watch. I kept the infected away and normals wouldn't bother me all too much.

I sighed, laid on my back and glanced up at the sky, the clouds blew over and hid the moon from sight, although the moons glow still pierced through the clouds. I wondered if it was another omen. Probably. Suddenly I felt something grab my arm and I quickly jerked my head to see what it was. It wasn't a normal with a shotgun like I'd feared, it wasn't another infected looking for blood, it was something much, much worse.

Erin, in her slumber, had latched onto my arm and was now hugging it tightly as she murmured something I couldn't hear. This was going to be bad in the morning. I wasn't all that worried about her shock on the matter, as she'd probably just blush and turn away. I was worried about the group. They'd have a field day with this at my expense.

"Don't... again... please..." Erin slurred out in her sleep. What the hell was she dreaming about? As I pondered this question she released her grip on my arm and moved over, now resting her head on my chest.

"Just great... This day couldn't _possibly_ get any worse!" I lowly shouted. Suddenly, I heard snickering from the tree Ash was sleeping in. Why couldn't I just keep my big mouth shut?

"Looks like I'll have to take the night shift this time around," Ash said softly as he walked into the clearing. "You seem a little... preoccupied tonight." I looked at Ash and gave him the one finger salute. "I love you too, bro." Ash had that shit-eating grin on his face he was famous for. That was never a good sign.

"Keep it to yourself, Ash," I stated. He grinned as Erin seemed to nuzzle herself into my chest, her left arm now slung across my torso.

"Why would I say anything?" Ash asked. "She's just using you as her own personal pillow. You'd better hope she wakes up before the others do, then maybe you can deny something."

"If I did, you'd just tell them what happened anyway." I glared at him. It was something he would do.

"Too true," Ash admitted. "But I don't think she'll be complaining when she wakes up."

"Do you enjoy torturing me?"

"Yes, very much so." Ash sat next to me taking care not to wake Erin or disturb her sleep in any way. "So what's the plan for tomorrow?" Ash's tone had suddenly become serious.

"Why do you come to me for these things?"

"You're our leader."

"When was that decided?"

"Recently actually. Considering you helped bring us all together and kept Sarah and Bear safe, not to mention you planned a full rescue operation and pulled it off, we decided you were the most fit to be the leader after you went into 'flashback mode' and Bear carried you back. We chose you because even though you have amnesia, which I'm sorry for giving you, you have a good idea of what's going on and how to survive."

"You gave me amnesia? Sorry to burst your bubble but I've had amnesia since the infection, not since you clocked me on the back of the head."

"I know, but it's the infection that caused the amnesia. You got the full force of the infection which had adverse affects on your memory. That's probably why you didn't remember things. You basically took the shot straight out of the cannon, while the others only felt it after the fact."

"More shit end of the stick stuff for me it seems." Erin nuzzled again and gripped me tighter.

"Good luck getting out of that death grip," Ash joked. I rolled my eyes.

"Please... with... I... you..." Erin slurred out another non decodable sentence. While I glanced at her in confusion, Ash had a grin.

"I think she's dreaming about you," Ash said.

"What makes you say that?" I asked. Ash walked over to her.

"Watch." He moved his lips to her ear. "Zero," he whispered into her ear. I watched in confusion as her mouth formed the outline of a smile. "When you say something to a sleeping person, you can influence their dream. She didn't make too much of a reaction other than to smile so you were already involved. If she wasn't dreaming about you before, she is now."

"I...you..." She slurred once more as a blush now accompanied her smile. Ash chuckled softly and looked back at me.

"You know I just noticed something," I said. Ash looked at me with his shit-eating grin. Time to shut him up. "How have you been talking without coughing for all this time?" Ash's face switched to disappointment as he shook his head. I knew what he wanted me to say, the only problem is I wasn't fully sure of it.

"I got used to it I guess. I'm one of the longest surviving Smokers so I guess talking normally comes about after a while."

"Hmm," I hummed. Truth be told I'd just ignored most of those things. Still there were a few things that bugged me, something I'd have to ask Will about in the morning.

"I wish I was in your shoes," Ash said honestly.

"Why do you say that?"

"You somehow have the innate ability to remain blissfully unaware of things that are right in front of you, yet when everything falls into hell, you turn into this kinda super leader and pull us out. Think about it, you have no idea why this girl provokes such changes in you, yet when she was in the kind of trouble she was in, you planned and staged a full rescue operation to save her... and _succeeded_."

"I think you're spouting nonsense."

"And that other time when you remained clueless to the true nature of Sarah's problem even though the signs were obvious." I remembered that already. Why is he bringing this up? "Then when she had lost hope you break into her house and fucking _save_ her for the second time! You have a knack for doing stuff like that. Look at what just happened! We all remained unaware of what the Government was planning, yet once we found out, you took over and got us all out before we ended up as nothing more than a bloody heap on the asphalt. That's not the only reason though."

"What's the other one?" Ash grinned at me.

"You've got a cute normal girl that's pining for you."

"That's not true!" I nearly shouted. Honestly, I didn't know who I was trying to prove that to anymore. Was I trying to prove that to him... or myself?

"Who are you trying to convince?" Ash asked me. Did he read my mind? What the hell? I looked away from the sleeping girl on my chest and sighed before turning back to Ash.

"I'm not sure anymore, but I can't just ignore the fact that I don't know much about her."

"I understand that, and until they learn how to understand us, your relationship isn't going to get very far."

"There is no relationship!"

"Not yet there's not, but give it time and I promise she'll grow on you." I glanced to Erin who nuzzled further into my chest.

"I think she already is." I couldn't take my eyes off of her... it took her all of three seconds of my laying down to clasp my arm and another fifteen to start the nuzzling. Ash suddenly began to chuckle.

"No doubt," he said looking directly at her. Did he see something? From my point of view I could only see the top of her head now. "I want to ask you something though."

"Go ahead." He looked at Erin, then at Will, then to me.

"If something does come between the two of you... and by that I mean you and Erin, are you going to try to pursue her as is, or will you turn her into one of us?" I gaped. I hadn't thought of that... then again, I wasn't planning any of this to begin with.

"I... I'm not sure." Ash looked at me and nodded in understanding.

"Understandable. After all, it's not like you had much time to consider such a thing, but it's definitely something you should put some thought into. Should things happen the way I think they will, you'll have to make that decision sooner or later." I sighed again.

"Why can't things go back to he way they were? Why did everything have to happen like this?"

"The world is a cruel, unforgiving place. The people, however, are crueler, more unforgiving, and dumber than a pile of rocks. They can't leave things be and let nature take its course. If they had let things be, maybe the infection could've been crushed within the first few days... maybe a week at the most... but because they had to try and make a vaccine, now more people have been infected and more innocent people are dead. I wish we could've saved a few of them."

"We're not superheroes, Ash. I doubt we could've done anything anyway. Even if we found a way to broadcast, no one could understand us, not to mention people are more willing to believe the government over a single naysayer." Ash crossed his arms and looked at the ground.

"Point made... Sad that things come to that though."

"They're sheep... stupid, guileless sheep. They'll believe anything they're fed by their shepherd, in this case the government, and believe it without question. Those few who do question things are labeled as pariahs. They, in turn, are shunned by the general populace and most end up going crazy in some respect or committing suicide."

"Being shunned and hated for not thinking the way others want you to... fascism must be making a comeback." I looked at the sky and kept my eyes on the stars... if I looked at Ash I might become too emotional and wake Erin up.

"It has for many years. Most people don't seem to realize that they and the things around them are falling to such a thing. When a person dislikes another for being different, generally having a different view on the world or acting the way he or she prefers, they're supporting fascism in a small way. People don't focus on the important things and look for reasons to hate."

"Didn't we hate a lot of people too?"

"Yes, but we hated them because they used others to meet their own ends. People like that deserved to be hated." My eyes narrowed as I said that.

"Who's to say they should be hated though? Anyone, no matter how they act, will have someone that likes them, some just never meet that person until it's too late."

"That's why morals were created. Morals were the standard for proper conduct, chivalry and the like are good examples. People that go against that are those deserving of hate."

"Is it just me or did this conversation get much more... profound than when it started?"

"It did... though I'm not complaining. Are you?"

"Not really. I like a good conversation as much as the next guy, and this one is certainly noteworthy... and actually took a lot off my mind."

"Like what?" I asked. Truth be told it took a lot off my mind too.

"Like if we still had our hearts and souls in the right place... whether or not our humanity is still intact."

"I've worried about that same thing before... and based on how we handled that little... incident... I say we've still got it. Pain and emotion are just small factors of this thing we call humanity." I still had some doubts... but for the time being... they were satisfied. "I guess I'm going to get some sleep right now."

"That'd be a good idea. I've got the night watch, so just relax with your girl." I grinned.

"She's not my girl yet." My eyes shot open wide after I said that.

"That's right," Ash agreed. "_Yet._ Get some rest you nut, we're going to need our leader in top shape for tomorrow."

"I guess your right."

"Night bro."

"Night." That being said, my eyes closed and a darkness more inviting than ever claimed me once again.

* * *

**Me: Well that's done.**

**Ash: Continuing with a profound conversation... not bad.**

**Me: Yes, but it's not everyone's thing. More or less it shows that you guys still have your humanity... if you didn't you wouldn't be questioning these things.**

**Zero: Well... yea... but... wow... some of that stuff... just... damn.**

**Ash: Someone with experiences in a matter will always have a lot to say.**

**Zero: Obviously. Also, did you have to taunt me?**

**Ash: Yes.**

**Me: All right, all right, that's enough! See you next time everyone. **


	11. Casualty

**Me: Chapter 11 is DONE! WHOOT!**

**Zero: You've been having some small writer's block lately haven't you?**

**Me: What makes you say that?**

**Zero: Well, normally you'd have three chapters done ahead of time, now you just write to keep the schedule.**

**Me: Sometimes I think you're too smart.**

**Zero: Perhaps.**

**Me: Disclaimer is mine this time. I don't own Left 4 Dead nor the types of infected. All I own are the plot and the characters. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 11: Casualty

I woke the next morning to the sound of snickering. When I opened my eyes, the clique was staring at me with large grins on their faces. I looked to my chest and sighed heavily... I was in for an insane amount of teasing for this. Apparently, not only had my friends and brother woken up before Erin did, somehow, in her sleep, she positioned herself literally on top of me, her head still resting on my chest.

"Did you sleep well bro?" Bear asked trying and failing to stifle a snicker. The others who were watching starting to laugh.

"Go to hell," I replied. I felt something move and glanced down at the sleeping girl on my chest. She was starting to wake up. Her green eyes fluttered open as she turned her head to look at the clique watching her with grins. By the look on her face she was obviously confused.

"How sweet!" Sarah chimed. "She's clueless."

"Only for now she is," Ash added. Erin looked around to see what they were grinning at. Turning her head she looked at me in the eyes and her eyes widened. I expected as much. It took her an extra minute to figure out exactly what was going on. She glanced downward to see how bad it was and leaped off me a second later with a giant blush on her face. There were laughs and some money was passed around.

"More betting?" I asked.

"You know it!" Gimpy said. "It was a sucker bet and they fell for it hook, line and sinker." He took the money and started counting it. "Four hundred... not bad."

"Can we skip the joking bullshit for now? Seriously, first we should find a home that isn't in any immediate danger."

"You're right, you're right," Bear stated. "Sorry about that."

"Will, get Erin ready. Same as when we escaped. Ash and I take the front, Sarah on Bear's shoulder with Erin and Will, and Gimpy covers the back."

"Got it!" They shouted as if they were trained soldiers. Seriously, was it this far along already? We got into formation as quickly as possible and set off. We headed east, following the rising sun to find some better land.

I figured the best we could do was find some wide open space and start over from scratch if we couldn't find anything better. The forest we were currently moving through was dark and filled with regular infected. The simple minded horde allowed us to continue uninterrupted.

Perhaps they knew that if they tried anything they'd be dead faster than they could groan. Then again, I can't be sure.

"How large is this forest anyway?" Will questioned. I glanced back slightly.

"Not sure," I replied. "The only way to know is to just keep going and hope for the best." The forest was huge, of course that goes without saying. I don't recall any forest that was ever smaller than a few miles, then again that may be due to the brain damage.

I couldn't shake a feeling I had that something terrible was going to happen. I shrugged it off and shook my head, trying to expel such thoughts from my head. If anything bad was going to happen, I had to do whatever necessary to stop it.

I was ready, mentally at least... physically, I was shaking a little bit. It seemed that one of my friends picked up on it.

"Yo, Zero, you okay?" Bear asked. I figured he'd notice my unrest.

"Only somewhat," I responded. If I trusted them, there was no reason to hide anything from them... right? "I have a bad feeling about this."

"What's your gut telling you?" Ash questioned.

"I wish I knew," I said honestly. "Something just feels wrong... I can't explain what, but something."

"I know that feeling," Will said.

"Oh you're starting to understand us now are you?" Sarah asked as she nudged my little brother. He smiled and nudged her back.

"I've basically perfectly understood since I woke up this morning, so yeah, I heard of everything you were talking about." Will's grin was huge.

"About time you learned, though I suppose that's only because you could always understand your brother," Gimpy stated.

"Maybe," Will admitted. Erin was looking at him confused but made no effort to ask anything. I heard her speak before so I knew she wasn't mute. Maybe she didn't want to say anything until she could fully understand us. Perhaps. We proceeded out of the forest and to a mountainous area. For some reason, Ash started to shudder slightly.

"Ash," I began.

"I'm fine dude... I'm fine," he stated quickly. Ash wasn't acting like himself. Almost like... nah. Couldn't be. He wouldn't hide anything from us. "Guys, I'm going to run ahead really quick and scout." He didn't wait for a response before taking off as fast as his legs could carry him.

"What was that all about?" Gimpy asked.

"Not sure," Bear answered. What the fuck was up with Ash?

"Maybe he just really had to check ahead?" Sarah suggested, more or less asking herself than anyone else.

"Did Ash have some kind of fear of mountainous or rocky areas?" Will questioned.

"Not that I can remember," I stated.

"Aww, how sad," came a hauntingly familiar voice. The group turned to see several special infected staring us down.

"Ah, Smokey, good to see you got out of the raid alive," I lied. Never thought I'd see him again. His group was decent enough, but I was wondering what he was doing here. His group consisted of him, a Hunter, a Spitter, a Tank and a Charger. Guess he couldn't find a Witch.

"Yes, no thanks to those stupid humans dropping bombs on the city as if it were a training field," he replied.

"So what brings you out here?"

"I came to get my reward for a victory in our little bet."

"A... victory? Sorry to burst your bubble, but we didn't lose anyone in our group."

"You're about to." The second his statement ended the Charger rushed and slammed into me with his full weight. I flew back and slammed into several rocks, nearly getting skewered in the process. I groaned as a wave of pain ran through my body. How am I feeling pain right now? Shouldn't my nerves be dead? More importantly, how did I not see that coming?

"You son of a bitch!" Gimpy shouted as he charged and slammed into their charger. Smokey, as I chose to call him, threw his tongue at my brother but barely missed thanks to him jumping off of Bear's back just in time. Sarah jumped off Bear's shoulder and rushed Smokey, at least she was before she was pounced on by the hunter.

"Get the fuck off of me!" She cried. The Hunter leaned in and smirked beneath his hood. Bear quickly placed Erin behind Will and punched the Hunter so hard, the sound of his bones cracking was heard across the range as his body was flung into a small outcropping. No way that Hunter survived that.

The Spitter reared back and unleashed a volley at Will and Erin, to which they quickly sped out of the way while Will sprayed bullets at her in ridiculous amounts. One of the bullets managed to strike true and hit the Spitter in the head, killing her instantly. She dropped and rolled into the valley just below the bridge.

I managed to get to my feet and rushed for the Charger, clashing with him midway into a charge. I don't know how I found the strength to hold him back this time, but I managed to hold him back long enough to throw him off balance and slam him into the ground. He quickly rose to his feet and I did the only thing I could think of.

I rushed him head on and slashed him across his neck, spraying his blood everywhere. As he clutched his neck in pain, I pounced on him and started to tear open his throat and torso, flinging the body parts in different directions after they were torn off.

Seconds later, he was dead. Smokey lashed out his tongue and caught me in a strangling hold. I struggled to breath as his tongue grasped me tighter and tighter with each passing second. Bear tried to rush to me but was stopped by the other Tank. I was starting to blank out, Smokey's tongue was choking the life out of me. It only ended when something sharp sliced the tongue out of his mouth.

I fell to the floor and grasped my throat in relief. I turned to see Sarah standing between me and Smokey, cold fury burning in her eyes.

"So I guess I owe you now huh?" I asked trying to joke.

"Nah, we're just more even than before. I still owe you two more." Sarah rushed at Smokey again only to be snared by his tongue. "How did that regrow?"

"You didn't know? When a Smoker loses his tongue, a new one immediately grows back, but stronger than before," Smokey explained while snickering. My turn to return the favor! I leaped and tackled Smokey before ripping his tongue out and freeing Sarah in the process. I tore into Smokey's chest, throwing his insides to the floor.

"Son of a bitch!" Sarah choked out. She'd fallen to her knees and was coughing as she tried to bring the air back into her lungs.

"What did you think you were going to accomplish you bastard?" I yelled. He looked at me with a grin. Not this again. Seconds later his eyes reared back into his head and his breathing stopped. Sarah and I turned to the Tank who was holding off both Gimpy and Bear. Unfortunately, Will couldn't unload his weapons due to the possibility of him hitting Bear or Gimpy.

"No good son of a mother fucking whore!" Bear shouted as his punches were colliding with the Tank's. "Just fucking die already!" Gimpy tried slamming into the Tank before he was thrown away by a wild swing.

"Dammit!" Gimpy swore. I tried jumping onto the Tank's back but was slammed into the ground by the Tank's gigantic arm sending waves of pain across my body. I turned over and coughed up some blood. Wait... blood? I can still do that? Are we more human than infected? What the hell is this?

"Gimpy, try attacking his back while I keep him occupied!" Bear shouted.

'Got it!" Gimpy replied as he charged the Tank's back. The Tank, however seemed to have different ideas. He twisted his body placing Bear in Gimpy's path causing the attack meant for the Tank to hit Bear while the Tank threw a powerful fist into Bear's chest. Bear swore loudly and hit the floor, his body twitching in pain. The Tank then picked up Gimpy and threw him directly into the side of the mountain, breaking the rocks apart.

I struggled to my feet and jumped onto the Tank's back, barely managing to hang on as he thrashed about. I used my positioning to tear into the back of the Tank, ripping a hole in his back. The Tank kept thrashing about even as the hole I was ripping into his back grew. Soon, I found myself doing something I never thought I'd do. I crawled through the hole I made and starting tearing into him from inside.

I was literally killing him from the inside out. The Tank's near constant thrashing didn't help matters. Soon the tank stopped moving, and after hearing what was said outside, I knew why.

"Ash! Dammit man what took you so long? You disappear but finally show up and wrap up the Tank with your tongue! It's about fucking time!" I heard Sarah yell.

"Sorry! I had something to take care of!" Ash's voice sounded off. "Where's our fearless leader?"

"He's literally inside of the Tank!" Bear's voice called.

"Aw damn! It ate him!" Ash shouted. There was some muffled laughing outside of the Tank. Bastard.

"I can't believe my bro tore a hole into the bastard and crawled inside it!" Will made it known he was alive.

"He always was a crazy bastard," Ash reasoned. This was met with several agreements from the others.

"If you guys have time to talk, how about helping me kill this fucking thing?" I shouted as I continued to tear into the Tank. Finally, the group seemed to work together. The Tank failed to move as I felt forces impact the Tank from the front and the back. Seconds later, tears in the chest allowed light to seep through and I saw a friendly face look through the new opening.

"Hey Zero!" Sarah chirped happily. Not a second after she said that, the Tank fell causing me to ricochet inside the body. Not wasting time I ripped out of the Tank's chest and found myself covered in blood. Everyone glanced at me and snickered. Was it really that humorous to see me covered in blood?

The first time I was covered in blood, I was taken away in a police car after all. The second time, I was hassled by Bear, and the last time I had a flashback and almost died! On second thought, I can suddenly see the humor in that. It was sick humor, but humor nonetheless.

"Wow bro, I didn't think it was possible to have 'that time of the month' twice in one month!" Bear joked getting a laugh from everyone except Erin. I groaned, that joke got old the first time he said it.

"That joke got old the first time you said it," I voiced my thoughts.

"Nah," Bear replied. I glanced around and noticed Erin was sitting near the edge of the cliff, hyperventilating. Suddenly we heard a familiar cry, a Hunter's cry. The hunter from before leaped out from the rubble and rushed toward Erin. I did the only thing I could think of. I rushed to her and shover her out of the way just as the hunter made his leap toward her. The hunter latched onto me mid shove and we both fell off the cliff.

We battled for life on the way down. Somehow, I'd managed to get his neck in my claws and rip his head off before pushing it below me. I wasn't sure how long I fell, soon everything around me became dark. I realized that this was the end for me. I hoped my friends could make it to safety without me. I hoped that they would manage to survive until the end of the panic. I couldn't figure out why I was so calm about all of this. I couldn't believe that this was the end. Most of all, I hoped that my sacrifice wouldn't be in vain. I closed my eyes, awaited the end and slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

**Zero: ...What?**

**Me: Yep, that's how this chapter ends.**

**Zero: What the fuck?**

**Ash: Dude, that's insane!**

**Sarah: I can't believe it!**

**Bear: So what next?**

**Will: Dunno. Is the story even going to continue?**

**Me: You'll have to see won't you? –Erin rushes to Zero and tackle hugs him, crying into his chest– Hope that makes you feel a little better.**

**Zero: ...**

**Me: Speechless is a good sign. Well, see you next time everyone!**

**Zero: Will it be this tale? Or a new one from another perspective?**

**Me: Just wait and see.**


	12. Begin Anew, the Clique Revived

**Me: The long awaited... anticipated... CHAPTER 12!**

**Zero: Thanks be to the powers that let this bastard remain insane! It _is_ continuing!**

**Ash: You almost had us last time dude.**

**Me: I know, I know. Honestly, I was wondering what kind of response the last chapter would have.**

**Gimpy: How much longer will this story be anyway?**

**Me: No worries there Gimpy. This story isn't ending for a while.**

**Sarah: Thankfully. I want to see where things go from here.**

**Me: They'll go, trust me, they'll go. One more thing, a new type of infected is introduced in this chapter.**

**Bear: New infected?**

**Me: Yep. Anyone want the disclaimer this time?**

**Zero: Me! Azard doesn't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected created by Valve. All he owns are the characters, plot, and the new breed of infected. Hope it's good.**

**Me: I think so. Enjoy everyone!**

* * *

Chapter 12: Begin Anew, the Clique Revived

"We'd continue living," Sarah had said to me. "Even if we are alone, we'll continue living and make the most of the chance the fallen had given us. And we'll make sure to never forget the sacrifice of those that allowed us to do so."

I remembered her words so clearly. They continued to echo in the dark chasm of my mind. Here I was, Zero, the elected leader of the clique, dead after falling to protect those close to me. Honestly, I couldn't think of a more fitting end. Was there one though? Doesn't matter. The end is the end and that's all there was to it.

"What are you doing Zero?" A voice called out. I recognized that voice. Razor?

"Razor?" I voiced my question.

"Just from my voice you know it's me. Impressive."

"What do you want Razor? Come to greet me since I'm dead?"

"What the fuck are you talking about? You're not dead you idiot!" What! I'm not dead? What happened after everything went black? "Obviously, I'm sure you'd like an explanation."

"No shit! Did I survive the impact or something? Because I'm sure, even being infected, that it's impossible!"

"Well, yes, it _is_ impossible. But something... or should I say some_one_, caught you as you fell and flew you back to the group."

"Flew?" Is that even possible?

"Yep, a new breed of infected was born thanks to you. A breed that'll be explained to you once you wake up again." Thanks to me? A new breed? What the flying fuck else have I missed?

"Another new breed that I'm learning about. Now what? He's taking over for the group too?" I was partially losing it. All this was a little much to take in.

"Nah, he's not interested. Trust me." I did trust Razor. I put my life in his hands before and he saved me. I chuckled slightly. If anyone deserved my trust, it was him.

"Of course I trust you. You're like a brother to me."

"Good, then do me a favor." I nodded. "WAKE THE FUCK UP!" In a second I seemed to snap out of whatever trance I was in. The first thing I did when I opened my eyes was check if I was really alive. Just the usual array of tests, pinching myself, patting down my stomach, etc. I leaned my head back and sighed. Glancing to my left I saw Erin sleeping next to me again. I suppose she couldn't take the excitement.

"Looks like sleeping beauty is up," Sarah said as she looked at me. The group rushed to me and started to verbally beat on me.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" Gimpy shouted.

"What happened to your goddamn training?" Bear yelled.

"Do you have any idea how fucking lucky you are?" Ash questioned.

"You bastard! You almost left me alone! I should kick your ass!" Will cried.

"Alright, alright, settle down!" I commanded. After a few protests it grew quiet. "I admit that I wasn't thinking too clearly after everything was said and done."

"No shit, Sherlock," Ash deadpanned.

"Keep digging, Watson," I retorted. "I'd like to see any of you think more clearly in that situation." The silence that followed gave me all the satisfaction I needed. They couldn't do better themselves.

"Relax and take a chill pill for good measure, Zero," a voice said. Wait, that voice... no, it couldn't be... I glanced over to where the voice came from. I saw a young man who was my age. He had green eyes and messy green hair that hung slightly in front of his face. The color of green the hair was made it obvious it was dyed. Razor...

"Razor you no good son of a bitch!" I shouted as I literally tackled the bastard. Razor looked at me and started laughing before shoving me off. "How the hell did you survive?"

"Didn't I tell you before? You gave birth to a new breed of special infected. A.K.A me." How did he–? "I spoke to you while you were unconscious. I think it's obvious I made it through. Hell, you even talked back to me. That part was hilarious."

"What kind of infected are you?" I asked. He grinned before two giant wings exploded out of his back. The wings were torn, yet still appeared to be able to allow flight. In terms of appearance, they looked a lot like bat wings except they were only attached to his back, not his arms.

"My breed has no name yet, as I'm the only one that is known of. I chose to call myself an Adaptor. I can adapt to any situation as I see fit. The only downside is–" he retracted his wings, "Once I deactivate an adaptation, I can't do a different one for an hour. If I use the same one again, the timer is reset. This is how I escaped. I was brutally beaten, for sure, but the second those humans took their eyes off of me I adapted to appear dead and de-limbed. They walked right over me without a second thought. The rest I'm sure you can figure out."

"I can't believe they fell for that," I droned. Razor looked at me and grinned.

"They're a lot like the mindless horde in a way," Razor explained. "Many humans have met their end because they overlooked a supposedly dead infected. They walk over them only to be grabbed by a hand and killed. They don't seem to learn from this mistake either."

"I suppose I've you to thank for saving my ass?" I asked.

"Damn right!" Razor enthusiastically exclaimed.

"Now I owe you double," I sighed. Damn it all. I already owed him for that court case two years back, now I owe him for a literal save.

"Just get us all to safety and I'll call us even."

"Deal!" I practically shouted, which earned a laugh from the rest of the group. "Well then, I say we rest for the night and head out in the morning."

"I agree," Ash chimed in. The group seemed to agree and sat around the small fire in the middle of the camp. I'm not sure what possessed me to do it, but I walked over to Erin's sleeping form, picked her up and carried her over to the fire where I set her head on my lap as I sat down.

"Looks like Zero really has wised up," Gimpy stated, a giant grin plastered on his face.

"Shut it Gimpy," was my brilliant response.

"Relax Zero," Bear admonished. "We're just happy for you."

"And you know how we work," continued Ash.

"We support you by teasing you mercilessly," Sarah finished.

"I don't see you guys taunting Bear and Sarah!" I exclaimed.

"Well, they actually _admitted _their feelings for each other," Will explained. "Erin obviously has had feelings for you since high school and you're only noticing it _now_. Why _shouldn't_ we taunt you for it?"

"Hate to say it, but he's right," Ash agreed with my brother. "They've been an official item since I found you, so really, teasing them is kinda pointless. You however, haven't done jack shit. Teasing has its rewards in this case."

"And you only tease me, not her," I continued, pointing at the unconscious girl on my lap.

"She knows what she wants," Will responded. "Or should I say, _who_ she wants. Not only that but she still can't understand your infected language. Teasing her would be kinda pointless for now... Well, _I _could tease her... and I do... repeatedly."

"I can attest to that," Bear said. "He's been teasing her since you were unconscious."

"You know something's been bugging me," I began. "Will, you remember when you asked Erin if there was something she'd like to talk to me about and she answered that she didn't?" Will nodded. "Why did she say, 'No I don't' instead of 'No there isn't?' It just sounds weird when you think about it."

"She heard an entirely different question," Will explained. "She was still flustered from the night before, and heard what she wanted to hear. When I asked if there was something she wanted to talk to you about, she heard, "Don't you have something you'd like to tell him?'. She was either flustered about her crying for half the night, or flustered that you were right there when I asked."

"Aw," Sarah cooed. "The first stages of a crush."

"The only thing is, she's been in the first stages for years. She's never worked up the courage to talk to him," Will continued.

"Well," Razor began, "it sorta makes sense. I mean, what sport or club was Erin in during high school?"

"None," Will answered.

"That's my point. Think about it. Zero here was on the football team, I was on the hockey team with Ash, Sarah was on the swimming team, Gimpy was on the lacrosse team, and Bear was on the wrestling team. Hell, Will was even on the basketball team. Except for her, all of us were on some kind of team. So, in that respect, except for her, we were all jocks."

"Ugh," I groaned. "I hated high school society and politics. Fuck, I still do."

"We all did. So basically, she didn't make her move because jocks are expected to go out with other jocks, or cheerleaders," Sarah pieced together.

"Exactly," Razor said. "She thought he would be more interested in a cheerleader than her. Not only that, she thought if she told him, he'd either laugh in her face or already be taken, or say he was already taken. Though we all know he'd have happily gone with her, she was worried beyond belief and that prevented her from acting."

"The heart is a curious thing," I mused.

"You're one to talk," Bear argued. "You barely know your own, to say nothing of someone else's."

"Bite me," I retorted. Bear then walked up to me, picked up my arm and literally bit it. "OW!"

"You said to bite you," Bear reasoned. "So I did!" Bear had a smile on his face that could put a demon's evil smile to shame. He did what he enjoyed and enjoyed what he did. He always did.

"Sarah, keep your pet under control," I said.

"I'm not her–!"

"Bear, be quiet," Sarah spoke softly, but harshly.

"Yes, ma'am," Bear replied, letting his head sink slightly.

"Bear you're so fucking whipped!" Ash said, laughing insanely.

"Knew it!" Gimpy shouted.

"Called it," I stated. With that said, the group joined together for a round of laughter, Bear and Sarah included. "Just cause you're together, doesn't mean I can't haze you."

"Asshole," Bear joked. Sarah starting giggling. Bear and I were famous for our random antics. Random word battles back and forth. We enjoyed them though, and it helped sharpen our wit, even if the arguments themselves made no damn sense.

"All right, all right, that's enough you two," Ash stated, still in a laughing fit.

"I swear you two act like children!" Sarah yelled.

"We _are_ children!" Bear and I responded.

"Well, technically you're old enough to be adults, but you both have the mindsets of someone half your age," Will said.

"Thank you," we said at the same time. Will placed his face in his palm and stifled a laugh. Being a goofball always had its perks.

"You may want to keep it down," Razor suggested, pointing at Erin. "After all, we don't want Zero's sleeping beauty to wake up." The group snickered at me.

"Dammit Razor!" I yelled.

"It's really too easy tease you," Gimpy said.

"Assholes." The group continued laughing. It wasn't long before I joined in laughing too. About an hour passed which we spent joking. The fire burned brightly as did our spirits. In the end, we were a full family again. All that was left was to find a home and see what happened next, a nice house where we could protect those close to us. The family was finally together again. It was finally time to move on.

There was no reason to hold on to the past anymore, but that didn't mean we couldn't look back on it and take the lessons we learned forward. To anyone else, I'm sure home would seem near, now. To us, it was already home. Our home was with our family, and our family was right here.

* * *

**Sarah: That's such a sweet ending!**

**Zero: ...Of that chapter.**

**Sarah: Right.**

**Ash: I knew the bastard would find a way to bring Razor back.**

**Razor: I feel loved. A new breed of infected. Hope there's no hate for this.**

**Zero: There shouldn't be.**

**Me: Well, now I just gotta go for the next chapter and get working on the moving.**

**Gimpy: The clique really is revived.**

**Bear: All is how it should be.**

**Me: I think this calls for a group send-off this time.**

**Everyone: See you next time everyone!**


	13. Starting Fresh and Another Problem

**Me: Chapter 13, simple but gets the job done.**

**Zero: Seems so. Anyway, what gets done in this chapter.**

**Me: Exposition, as well as some potential issues later.**

**Razor: Figures. I'll do the disclaimer. Azard doesn't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected. All he owns are the characters, plot, and the 'Adaptor' breed of Infected.**

**Me: Thanks Razor. Enjoy, everyone.**

* * *

Chapter 13: Starting Fresh and Another Problem

Morning didn't take long to arrive. Then again, I suppose it's a good thing that it came quickly. As the old saying goes, 'Time flies when you're having fun' and I'd be worried if time didn't move as fast as it did. We didn't even notice we'd stayed up all night. Poor Will was so tired he literally collapsed once the sun beams hit our faces. Not much of an issue though, seeing how Bear is in charge of carrying him. Without much being said, we gathered the group and moved on.

My mind was still wrapped around the events of the previous night, mainly Razor's sudden return and my own actions towards Erin. There had to be a reason I was acting like this, right? Well, whatever the reason it made no damn sense to me, even if I pretended it did. Then again, not much did in a long while, and of course I couldn't understand anything going on in my own damn body, lest Hell rise from the ground and destroy mankind. Okay, okay, maybe not to _that_ extreme, but... it seemed that way.

We headed out of the mountains and into open plains. The plains were an interesting place to travel across. The weren't many infected around and animals actually came close to us. Curious, considering that most animals avoided us like the plague... considering we _had_ a plague.

Then again, animals are thought to have another sense, one that can seem to understand and acknowledge humanity. I vaguely recalled hearing some curious cases where animals who'd ran away from other humans instantly took a liking to a supposed 'pure soul'.

Bah, doesn't matter now. We stopped for a while and enjoyed lunch in the sun. Bear and Sarah were next to each other the entire time, big surprise... Ash was talking to Gimpy and Razor, no doubt making more bets over the random goings on in the clique, Will was eating at his own slow pace, damned if I knew how we were related, Erin was entertaining herself by reading a book about... I had no idea, and I laid on my back and watched the clouds for a time.

Razor soon broke from the other two, walked over to me and tapped me on the shoulder.

"You want in on our little bet?" He asked me.

"What are you idiots betting on this time?" I questioned. Razor grinned.

"How long before Will steals your girl from under your nose," Razor responded.

"WHAAAT!" I cried, silently thankful that Erin still couldn't understand us. If she did, she may have kicked Razor or me in the nuts. Why me? Dunno, but it still seemed to happen... at least when I was alive it did. Seconds later, Erin walked over to us and did just that; she slammed her right leg into Razor's family jewels, though they were probably nonexistent now. That looked like it hurt... big time.

Erin huffed before walking away. Can she finally understand us? She walked over to Will before mouthing a 'Thank you' to him. Will told her. I chuckled. Bastard. Razor slowly got to his feet and grimaced in obvious pain.

"I was only kidding!" He shouted in falsetto, which only prompted Will, Ash, Gimpy and myself to roll on the grass laughing. "Actually, we're betting on how long it takes for Erin to finally snap."

"Snap?"

"Yeah. How long do you think?"

"Why would she snap? And for that matter, what would she do?"

"It doesn't matter. Are you in?" Razor had a somewhat... knowing yet, was that cheeky?, smile on his face.

"I... I don't know."

"Oh come on! It'll be fun, trust me."

"Ugh, what are the time frames?" I asked, finally giving in.

"The times are: Next week, next few months, or next year. We're keeping it vague this time around because we really don't have much to work with."

"Put me up with never," I droned.

"Oh trust me bro," Razor said, "it's going to happen."

"Damn it... fine put me up for fifty in the next few months." Razor nodded and made a note of it in a small red notebook.

"Pleasure doing business with you." Razor rushed off to the others. They turned and glanced at me with big grins on their faces. Oh great, it's that 'I know something you don't know' face. Packing up whatever we had, we headed off again. Not exactly the ideal way to start off fresh, but then again, that's why I loved my family. We did almost nothing by the books if we didn't have to.

Traveling across this field actually brought some peace to our little group. When Erin wasn't shooting the occasional glare at Razor, much to group's amusement, she had her face buried in that book she was reading when we stopped. Will glanced at the cover of the thing and did a fist pump. I'll have to ask him about that later. He turned and whispered to Bear and Sarah, who in turn whispered to the others, giving them all a shit eating grin. I was definitely pissed. I was going to have to get a look at that book later.

"I'm going to have to teach you to use a weapon," I heard Will tell Erin. He said it low, mainly to make her think we couldn't hear. "If you can handle even a basic blunt weapon, you can protect yourself and what happened at the ravine won't happen again."

"How is that possible?" She asked in a hushed whisper. Silently, I thanked my senses for being able to hear this. If I could help, I was going to make damn sure it was within my power to do so.

"Hunters, except for Zero, follow a very basic attack pattern. They crouch, they leap, they tackle and maul. If you slam one with something before they can tackle you, they'll stumble back a decent amount giving you a chance to beat them off." He completed this speech by shaking his fist. Erin's face flushed red for a second before Will realized what exactly he said... and did. "I mean beat them down! Damn it!" He turned and gagged slightly as his train of thought obviously collided with Erin's.

"Dumb shit," I said aloud. Will chuckled. "The next time you talk about fighting, make sure you don't do anything perverted and focus on the _fighting_!" The group chuckled at my brother's expense.

"Go fuck yourself," Will retorted.

"Soon, he won't have to," Ash deadpanned. "He'll have someone else to do that for him." I was sure I flushed red at what Ash was insinuating. Jackass. The giant burst of laughter that followed didn't reduce that blush that showed up.

I walked ahead from there, mainly to escape my own embarrassment. I envied Erin, considering she didn't understand what they were saying and Will wouldn't _dare _translate that. At least, I think he wouldn't.

Eventually, I wandered over a hill and saw fields of maize spanning miles in almost every direction. There was farmland this close to the city? Then again, close was relative at this point. Everything seemed close in some way. I was staring at the fields for so long that the group caught up.

"Maize," I simply said. The group looked at the fields in silence before someone broke it.

"That's a lot of corn," Bear said in his usual manner of stating the obvious.

"Corn?" Razor asked. "I thought this was a maze! Where's the damn Minotaur? I want a fucking Minotaur!"

"You _could _just turn into one Razor," I deadpanned, forgetting to mention that maize is just another word for corn. Razor's eyes lit up for a second before he grew horns out of his head and turned his feet into hooves. Without another word he rushed off into the fields of corn.

"Did you _have _to give him that idea Zero?" Ash questioned.

"How the fuck was I supposed to know he'd take it literally?" I argued.

"It's us for fuck's sake!" Gimpy shouted. "Since when have we _not_ done something stupid or fun should the opportunity arise _or_ just for the hell of it?"

"Point made," the rest of us said simultaneously. Well, now we had to find Razor again. Fortunately, when Razor plowed through the maize, he left us a path. Following the path we found Razor changing back to himself.

"What took you guys?" Razor asked. "If you guys were quicker, we could've played 'Crete's Labyrinth'! I could've been the goddamn minotaur!"

"Sorry Razor, I like Greek Mythology as much as the next guy, or as much as a fucking historian, but we've got priorities," I droned. I hated to kill the good mood, especially since I was just as big a prankster and a kid at heart as the others. "We've gotta find a home first."

"I say we live around here," Sarah suggested. "The area seems nice and not much has been affected by the disease. Or at least it seems that way."

"It is very quiet," Bear agreed. "Even for farmland, this is a bit much. Normally, you'd hear animals or something."

"At the very least hear some stupid cows mooing," Gimpy said.

"I think that's only on animal farms," Ash stated. "Some farms do both, but it seems these are primarily produce. At least, I think that's how things are. Damn, never did my research on these things."

"Do you at least know how to grow stuff?" I asked. Ash shrugged.

"What's to know? You put a seed in the ground and water it." If only it were actually that fucking easy.

"There's actually more, but I'd have to find some books on the subject. Anyone know where the closest town is?"

"We're from the fucking city dude. A city that is destroyed, I might add," Bear said. "We wouldn't know where the closest town is... unless we found some locals, but something tells me they'd be less than willing to talk to a fucking Tank. Or any of us except Will or Erin for that matter."

"Well, we've still gotta try," I stated. We headed off to find temporary shelter, at this point anything with a roof. Soon, the sounds of farm life and voices hit our ears. There were still people here? They had to be armed, even if there weren't many infected here. As we headed to the source we came across a farmhouse and a barn. By the looks of things, there were several people that lived here. We hid behind the barn while Will and Erin left to talk to the people that lived here. About an hour later they returned and snuck us into the barn.

"Well, we've managed to find a place to stay, but you guys have to remain quiet," Will said.

"How did you convince these people to allow 'you' to stay?" Razor asked.

"The _son_ of the people that lived here vouched for us," Will explained, putting some venom in his tone at the word son. "I don't think I need to say why." It was more than obvious what had happened. Perverted bastard, plus shy, yet cute Erin, equals _complete fucking disaster_! Or at least it would be, if he tried anything. Fuck, I did it again!

"It's too fucking obvious," I deadpanned. Even Erin had her face in her hands in annoyance. "We could keep going. There's no reason to stay here if we're going to be dealing with some pervert."

"Well, it wouldn't be much different than dealing with us," Gimpy mused.

"Actually it is," Will responded. "Not only can she not understand you guys yet, but when _you're _being perverted, you do it as a general means of cracking jokes, or taunting the others about a relationship. You're not being perverted to, well, you get it." It was understood. "So what should we do?"

The following silence seemed to be eternal. None of us seemed to have a clear idea on what to do. On one hand, we have a roof over our heads, but we're putting a friend in some sort of potential danger. Personally, I'd be damned before I let that happen. On the other hand, we'd be out in the open against the elements and whatever else was out there.

"I say stay," Erin broke the silence. "At least until you guys can find a place that's abandoned. I can handle some unwanted flirting as long as we've got a place to stay."

"Is she serious?" I asked. The whole clique had dropped jaws, myself included.

"Are you serious?" Will translated my question. Erin nodded.

"Just teach me how to use something blunt and I can deal with unwanted advances." Will nodded. That perverted pig definitely won't be doing anything. I'd personally make sure of that.

"So I guess we're staying," I mused. "Razor, you and I will take shifts looking for more areas to live in." Razor nodded. I looked outside and saw the moon. Damn, how much time did we waste already? "We'll start tomorrow. I don't want anyone being suspicious, so you guys stay hidden. Razor and I at least look the most normal so we're the best choices for scouting." Just fucking great.

Honestly, this was like one of those things that would just end badly. Best not to think about that now. We had to find a home and quickly. Resting here would only be temporary. Will and Erin took places in the upper level of the barn, as well as the rest of us. We couldn't afford to be seen. Hours later, everyone else had nodded off but I was unable to sleep. There were a few noises on the lower level that made me wonder. As I looked down, the door to the barn shut. Someone had been in here. The question that ran through my mind was: Who was that, and how long had that person been here?

* * *

**Zero: Something tells me this won't end well.**

**Razor: You got that feeling too?**

**Bear: Won't take long before something screwy happens.**

**Me: Does it ever?**

**Ash: Not really.**

**Me: Short but sweet, gets the job done. I'm outta here. See you next time, everyone!**


	14. Farm Life Ain't the Life for Me

**Me: Chapter 14 is ready to go!**

**Sarah: I've been meaning to ask, how much longer is this story going to be?**

**Me: No idea, truthfully. I'll end it when I think I can end it without any questions remaining.**

**Zero: I see, and that could take a while?**

**Me: A long while, most likely.**

**-Everyone starts cheering-**

**Razor: We're going to be here for a while folks! WHOOT!**

**Erin: I suppose I'll get the disclaimer. Azard doesn't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected created by Valve. All he owns are the characters, plot, and the "Adaptor" breed he created. -Hug tackles Zero and snuggles-**

**-Everyone stares-**

**Bear: I've never seen that happen, but I don't think they're complaining.**

**Me: Me neither. Anyway, read and enjoy. **

* * *

Chapter 14: Farm Life Ain't the Life for Me

The morning sun shining through a window near the top of the barn woke me up. It's safe to say I didn't sleep all that well last night. I glanced over the edge of where I was sleeping and watched the bottom of the barn. Thankfully, there was no one there.

"Keeping an eye out this early?" Will asked. I turned to my brother who had just opened his eyes and was wiping the crust out of them.

"Yea. Someone was in here last night and I was checked to see if whoever it was came back."

"Any idea who it was?" Ash asked coming out of a dark corner.

"Not a one."

"Well, we've got to be off," Will started as he woke up Erin from her... peaceful slumber. Her face was beet red. Most likely she was dreaming... _sweet_ dreams last night. Without another word, the two left. Erin turned back just before she left and waved goodbye. I could scarcely believe that she said what she said last night. What made her toughen up like that so soon?

I admit I was still a little nervous. Not many women can handle dealing with a pervert without losing it in some way... I wish I didn't just think that. My mind was wrapped around just how bad of a pervert this guy could be. With varying degrees of perversion, varying degrees of protection must be initiated. My vision went dark as another memory came to me.

The clique and I have dealt with something like this before. We may have been menaces back in Mercy City, but we were _lawful_ menaces. Half the time the cops wouldn't even show if they were called, so we often had to take matters into our own hands. That's one of the main reasons they hated us. _We_ did their job better than _they_ did. We handled a lot of pervert cases, but the one memory that returned to me, I assumed, was one of the more extreme cases.

One of the nicer cheerleaders was being stalked by some creepy individual we had no information on. Of course, when I say nicer, I mean she was about as fun to hug as a cactus was. Hell, the nicest cheerleader was as nice as a fucking needle in the eye. Still, that wasn't a reason not to help. The guy in question was far above our age. When an image his face came to my mind, I guessed his face to be around the age of his lower to mid forties.

Fucking pedophiles. Regardless, he'd be stalking the cheerleader in question around for about a week before anyone was informed about it. When we caught him, he had almost succeeded in doing what his perverted mind wanted him to do. Bastard. Bear, Ash, Razor and I managed to beat him down in a barrage of fists and kicks. After we'd subdued him, the cheerleader walked up to him and slammed her leg into his family jewels. He coughed blood for twenty minutes before we dragged him to the police department.

The biggest problem was: How the fuck are we supposed to protect someone when we're forced to remain hidden? Back in high school, we remained hidden for information, but one of us was usually close to the intended target. Now, we've gotta protect someone from only the shadows. I racked my brain with ways to do this... considering we're not fucking ninjas.

"You're worried huh?" Came Razor's voice from another dark corner. I shook my head as I snapped out of my trance and looked toward him as I nodded. Razor understood what my answer was. The others must have filled him in on my memory loss and my blanking when a memory returned. "If that's the case, then stay back and let me handle searching for a home."

"Are you fucking insane!" I nearly shouted. Razor grinned and shook his head.

"Nope," he responded. "If anything, I'm more sane than you are at this point and time."

"I take it you have a plan?"

"Yep. First, have Will introduce you to the family. Just have him say you can't speak in a manner other than moaning because of a birth defect. Being as pale as you are, you can pass for an albino or just a pale guy." I already knew that much. "If you're working as well, you can keep an eye on Erin and make sure that pervert stays away from her."

"And what about searching for a different place to stay?" I asked. Razor responded by leaning forward and letting his wings explode out of his back.

"I can see and cover a lot more ground if I fly," he stated. "I can cover a few miles per day flying, and I'll fly high enough to make the humans think I'm some kind of bird. Then, I'll return when it's so dark no one will see me."

"You sure about that?" Razor nodded. I smiled as he took off out of the barn and soared into the sky. I looked outside and saw Will working on a tractor while Erin was doing a few quick chores while some other man was standing near them and talking. Will and Erin both looked annoyed which told me he was my potential target.

He seemed to be my age and was a lean, yet muscular young man, not unlike myself, Razor or Ash. No doubt that muscle was acquired through work, while ours came from fighting. He had short, messy, light brown hair and dark brown eyes. He wore the traditional farmer's garb, overalls over a stained white shirt and brown boots. At least, I _think_ that's traditional farmer's garb... back in the 1930's at least.

I sighed heavily and hoped my brother could pull off an act like what I was about to do. I left the barn through the back and acted like I'd just shown up at the farmland. As I approached Will happened to glance at me and his eyes widened. The farmer boy turned and saw me before opening his big mouth.

"Who the hell are you?" He shouted out loud, most likely to get the attention of his father who'd probably come out with a shotgun. At least that's what _would_ happen if the stereotype was true in this case. I rushed toward my brother and wrapped him in a hug before he could speak.

"Play along bro," I whispered lowly so only he could hear me. "You haven't seen me in months since the infection spread and you're relieved to see I'm alive. I have a birth defect that will only let me communicate in moans since I obviously can't speak to these people." Will's eyes softened as he dropped what he was holding, turns out it was a wrench, and wrapped me in a hug. Just as he hugged me, farmer boy's dad ran out of the house holding, well what do you know, a shotgun. Thank you, stereotypes!

"William," the taller man spoke. He was a near carbon copy of his son, or was it the other way around? Who cares? They looked pretty much the same except his father was in his lower forties in age and it definitely showed. "Who is this boy?" Will played it smooth, letting a few 'tears of relief' escape his eyes.

"This is my older brother," he responded letting the tears hit my shirt. He let go and moved back to look at me as though he hadn't seen me in years. "When the infection first hit, we were separated by the riots and mass hysteria. I thought he'd died in the chaos." Will pulled me in for another hug and I hugged back. I glanced into the older man's eyes and, to my surprise, they showed sympathy and understanding. Will let go again and pretended to be shocked. "Oh! I'm sorry where are my manners. Patrick, this is my brother Zero. Zero, this is Patrick. He owns the farm." I shook hands with the large man. He then turned me toward the shorter man, "This is his son, Rick. Rick, this is Zero." I shook hands with him as well, though I could feel slight anger in his grip.

"How are you kid?" Patrick asked. I smiled and nodded, feigning my 'condition'.

"I'm sorry Patrick, but he can't talk," Will said.

"Why? Is he stupid or somethin'?" Rick questioned. I turned toward him and gave him a hardened glare.

"My brother was born with a birth defect that keeps him from speaking unless it's a moan or a weird type of groan," Will explained. "Also, Rick, I wouldn't insult him. My brother used to get in fights all the time and would routinely beat up guys twice his size." Patrick stared at me for a few minutes before letting out a sigh.

"Can he work?" He asked. I nodded and placed my left hand on my right bicep while I flexed it for emphasis. Patrick reached out and felt the muscle for a second before crossing his arms and giving me an impressed smile. "Strong lad." He seemed to grin for a second before he pulled his son off to the side. I turned my head toward Erin and gave a small smile to her as I sheepishly rubbed the back of my head. She smiled back and blushed slightly under my gaze.

"I swear you're going to give me a heart attack some day with the shit you pull, bro," Will said. I turned to where Patrick had taken his son and listened in from where I stood.

"Seems like you got some competition boy," he stated. My face contorted itself into one of confusion as I listened. "Looks like the gal you're after has got eyes on the pale kid. Think you can handle it?" I could hear Rick growl slightly in annoyance.

"I can handle it, Dad," he replied. "That pale guy ain't got nothing on me." I chuckled under my breath. At least now I could keep a closer eye on things. Will tapped me on the shoulder and I threw my attention to him.

"You being here makes me feel a lot better bro, but what about searching for a new home?" Will asked.

"Razor said he'd handle it. As much as I hate to admit it, he can cover much more ground than I can," I said.

"You really weren't kidding when you said he could only talk through moaning and groaning," Patrick said, startling me slightly. "How the hell can you understand him?"

"He's my brother," Will replied. "It's like we have a bond that lets us breach the whole, 'can't speak' thing. I can pretty much understand what he's trying to say."

"Damn," Rick said, astonished. "Sounds to me like he's just retarded." I rolled my eyes and ignored the comment. I had better things to do than waste my time beating down a _real_ retard.

"I don't mean to be rude, but are you _trying _to get your ass kicked?" Will asked.

"Doubt he could even lay a finger on me," Rick responded cockily. Pride always comes before the fall and the more proud you are the louder the impact. Sounds like when he falls it'll be nuclear. I chuckled. He honestly had no idea what I was capable of.

"That's enough Ricky," Patrick scolded. "Just cause he can't talk right don't mean he is or he can't whoop someone's sorry ass."

"He did plenty of that back home," Will snickered out. "The best one was when he put some guy in the hospital for three weeks. Broke every bone in the guy's body too.

"Okay, time to get to work. Zero, was it?" I nodded. "I want you to help your brother. Erin, you and Rick get collect some eggs from the henhouse." I growled at Rick's victorious expression. Will placed a hand on my shoulder and pulled me over to the tractor.

"Don't worry, once they leave I'll say I'm done and send you to _help_ them," Will said making me smile. He usually had good ideas which made me wonder why he couldn't come up with full plans like I can. After a few minutes, he finished working on the tractor and sent me away. I caught up with the Erin and Rick just as they had arrived at the henhouse.

"What're _you_ doin' here?" Rick asked, at least trying not to sound like an asshole. He failed, but whatever. I jabbed my thumb back and shrugged. "Whatsa matter? Can't follow simple instructions?"

"Is Will finished?" Erin questioned sweetly. I nodded quickly. "So he sent you here to help us, right?" I nodded again with a grin this time. She picked up on what Will and I were doing and motioned for me to follow. "Come on then, the eggs aren't going to collect themselves." I smiled brightly as I followed her inside, much to the anger of Rick.

Things proceeded... _somewhat_ normally. Rick kept trying to send me off so he could be alone with Erin and made a perverted comment toward her every so often. From fetching eggs, to collecting some of the corn stock, to milking the cows and finally bringing everything in for dinner. Working here was tiresome and troublesome. I swear it would have been easier if I didn't have a fucking pervert to worry about.

Dinner was simple. His mother, who'd introduced herself as 'Trish', cooked a chicken dinner. The food was damn good. Honestly, I didn't know I could still taste things. My mind began to wonder just how much of me really wasn't human anymore. I mean, I could bleed, feel pain, taste food, have emotions... what part of this wasn't human? Still, the farm life isn't for me. I walked to the bathroom and looked at the mirror and recoiled in shock.

My skin tone wasn't as pale anymore. I had some color in my skin now. What the fuck is going on! Am I... recovering or something! That shouldn't be possible! It isn't possible! Could it be? Or am I just adjusting to being an infected better than most people? I mean, no one can recover from _death_! I returned to the table if only to have Will excuse the three of us so we could go to bed. We returned to the barn and took our places at the upper level. Razor flew in not a few moments later.

"So how did it go?" He asked me. I looked away as I answered.

"Fine. He sees me as competition so he may not move as quickly now. If he does make a move, he'll come after me first."

"Nice," Razor stated. A few seconds later I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and saw Ash and Razor looking at me concerned.

"What's up bro?" Ash questioned.

"Ash, do you think it's possible to recover from this disease?" I responded with a question of my own.

"Dude, I doubt there's a cure for death," Ash deadpanned.

"Then why can I still bleed?" I asked practically shouting. "Why can I still feel pain? Why am I still affected by these things? If I'm dead then I shouldn't be feeling a goddamn thing! I shouldn't be tanning either!"

"Tanning?" Razor questioned. He fetched one of the lanterns in the barn, lit it, and held it up to me. He dropped the lantern in shock and Ash managed to catch it before it hit the ground. "How the fuck?"

"That makes no sense!" Ash yelled. "We're all dead! Nothing, no cells or nerves, should be responding, yet, for some reason, they are." We looked at Razor in the light and saw he had a little more color to his skin as well. "Seems it's happening to you too. What the fuck does this mean?"

"Maybe we're not as dead as we think. There may not be a cure, or is surviving a cure in and of itself?" I asked no one in particular. We had nothing more to say. What was there to say? Were we being cured by simply surviving? Perhaps, perhaps not. Maybe our bodies are merely adjusting to everything. It seemed likely. I laid my head on some hay I'd brought up to use as a pillow, placed my hands behind my head and closed my eyes. There was definitely a lot to think about. Was a cure actually possible? Or are we just kidding ourselves? Either answer seemed possible at this point.

The light dimmed as Ash put out the lantern. Silently I was thankful our little conversation hadn't alerted anyone. After a few moments I felt something lay near me. I opened my eyes and saw Erin laying at my side, her head resting on my chest with her right arm slung across my torso. Without thinking, I removed my right hand from behind my head and placed it on her shoulder. It wasn't long before I was holding her to my body. After a satisfied sigh that came from both of us, I closed my eyes once more, and let sleep claim me again.

* * *

**Me: There goes another chapter.**

**Sarah: I didn't know Zero could be so sweet!**

**Zero: Sweet?**

**Sarah: At the end, you holding Erin close to you. So cute!**

**Zero: Why did you do this to me?**

**Me: Are you complaining?**

**Zero: ...Well, no but the hazing gets annoying after a while.**

**Me: Then plant a kiss on her and they'll shut up! In fact...**

**Zero: You wouldn't!**

**Me: Are you _that_ against it?**

**Zero: NO! It's just that... I want it to be a mutual thing... I need to know how I feel first. I don't want to do something with her if I'll only end up breaking her heart later.**

**Sarah: SOOO SWEET!**

**Me: And that's what separates a real man from a bullshit one in my opinion. Well, enough of this bullshit. Be good and be safe, everyone!**


	15. First There's a Crack

**Me: Chapter 15 is finally done.**

**Razor: I'm still surprised you manage to update this weekly.**

**Me: Well, what can I say?**

**Zero: That you seem to be able to write under pressure?**

**Me: Exactly!**

**Sarah: I'll handle the disclaimer. Azard doesn't own Left 4 Dead or the the types of infected Valve created. All he owns are the characters, the plot, and the Adaptor breed of infected.**

**Me: Thanks as always Sarah.**

**Sarah: Anytime.**

**Me: Now please, everyone, read and enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 15: First There's a Crack

A loud crowing outside woke me up. Must have been the rooster. I did have a lot of respect for people who could do this without complaint, but I still had no damn idea how they put up with it. This was the first time I heard the crowing and I was already more that prepared to rip the damn rooster's head off. I felt a weight on my chest and looked down only to find Erin still sleeping. I felt warm, warmer than I've felt in a long time. For some reason, this felt right, natural.

Erin stirred slightly and nuzzled her head into my chest. I could get used to waking up like this. Wait, what the hell am I thinking? She's a normal! Ugh. No matter how many times I repeat that, it never gets easier to say. Why the hell am I feeling this way? Could Ash and Will be right? Nah, it's just hormones... hormones that shouldn't be functioning in the first place but for some reason are. That's it.

"Still struggling with your own emotions, big bro?" Will asked as he approached from the shadows. I rolled my eyes from my, admittedly, very comfortable position. Will moved over to Erin and shook her slightly. She let out a cute yawn before getting up and stretching. Seconds later the front door to the barn slammed open. Rick ran in babbling like a madman.

"Did you see that!" He managed to say between babbles.

"See what, Rick?" Will questioned. Even an idiot could tell Will wasn't in the mood for Rick's bullshit.

"Something that looked like a giant bat just flew out the window up there!" Rick exclaimed pointing to the window. Must have been Razor. Good thing he's fast at flying.

"It was probably your imagination," Erin suggested with a slight hint of venom in her tone. Rick, somehow calmed by her words, decided to walk out. He's probably only doing this to increase his chances of getting in her pants. Fucking pervert. "I really hate that bastard."

"Then why didn't you agree to keep moving?" Will asked. I'm surprised my brother's so used to her acting this tough all of the sudden. Hell, I'm _still_ surprised.

"We need some type of shelter don't we?" She argued. "I said I could deal with it; I never said I'd enjoy it."

"Yeah, just keep teasing the fucking pervert until he snaps, then you're literally fucked," I muttered. Will's eyes widened slightly at what I just said, but he didn't argue it. He knew how teasing the wrong person could lead to that. Shit, that's how most rape cases in Mercy City started, innocent teasing. Well, innocent enough. We walked outside without another word between the three of us. Erin went off to start her routine while Will hung back with me.

"I don't disagree with what you said back there," he began, "but that's why we're here, to prevent that from happening."

"Even with us on the watch, all it takes it one mistake," I stated.

"Then we'll just have to be perfect won't we?" Will asked.

"Easier said than done," I mumbled as I walked away. I rushed over to where Erin to fulfill my original job. Thankfully, Rick wasn't there, but I wouldn't count him absent for too long. We managed to finish the morning chores before Rick showed up, right on time, much to our annoyance. He was most likely going to flirt with Erin.

"So where exactly are ya from?" Rick asked her. Erin rolled her eyes while her back was turned.

"I'm from where Will and Zero are from, Mercy City," Erin answered as sweetly as she could muster.

"Really?" Rick questioned, feigning interest. Even I could tell he was faking it, and apparently Erin could tell as well. "What's it like?"

"Annoying most of the time," Erin responded. Now that I think about it, it was kind of like here actually, only here it's only one person who's annoying, not the majority of the population.

"Bet ya had a lotta people hittin' on you." And there's the flirt.

"Maybe, but I never paid any attention to them," Erin admitted.

"None of em man enough for you?" Dear fucking Hell! If I didn't need to hide my identity and we didn't need a temporary home I'd kill this bastard!

"It's not they weren't man enough, it's that too many of them were like you," I said, not really giving a fuck at this point.

"Don't moan at me Gimp!" He shouted. Gimp? How original. Not. Calling me Gimp because he can't understand me. Ha! He's the Gimp for lack of a brain! Erin looked about ready to shout at him but I put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. She noticeably relaxed and sighed.

"I suggest you watch your tone around him," Erin pointed out. "Next time I think he'll just put a fist across your face. Either that, or _I _will." I liked the way she thought. I never expected her to say that either. She practically radiated power and confidence now. I... I... I'm so fucking _attracted_ to her right now.

A woman who knows how to take charge and even a _threat_! She'll be able to stand up to _anyone_ given enough time. I wondered how long it'd take her to kick this pervert in his family jewels. That or castrate him. My guess was at most another flirt.

"Whatever you say," Rick said clearly not believing her. He turned his back in preparation to walk away. "Not my fault the guy's a damn Gimp," he mumbled in the hopes Erin wouldn't hear him. She did.

Erin took three steps toward him and slammed a kick straight into his family jewels. From behind no less! Rick screamed in a note I'd have to deem a super-high falsetto before collapsing. Called it! Erin huffed and went back to her chores. Somehow I don't think that discouraged him. He may have been rolling on the floor in pain, but some sick bastards liked pain.

"Now _that's _what I call a woman!" Rick squeaked out, still in falsetto. I knew it. Sooner or later I'd probably have to rip his arms off, if only so he keeps his arms off of Erin. I may not be fully sure of my feelings yet, but I know she's my friend. I protect my friends, always have and always will. He somehow managed to get to his feet and stumble away.

"Bye Gimp!" I shouted. Even if he didn't understand me, the humor obviously wasn't lost. I walked back over to Erin was and helped her with the next chore, which was milking the cows.

"Thanks for the support back there," Erin said. I looked over to her slightly confused. She picked up on it. "You being there. I doubt I would've been able to kick him if you hadn't antagonized him. So, thanks." I smiled and nodded to her. Although I knew she couldn't understand me, I wondered how far along to understanding she was.

"You have no idea how much more attracted to you he is now," I muttered. It honestly didn't matter since she couldn't understand me yet but I had to at least say it.

"Son of a bitch," she swore. "Figures that bastard would like being kicked in the nuts." I stared at her befuddled. She turned to me and smiled slyly. She understood me!

"How long?" I asked simply.

"Since this morning," Erin replied. "Now you can't say any pervy shit behind my back about me."

"I never did that in the first place!" I defended. "I was stating facts!"

"I know. I had to keep myself from laughing when you made that comment about too many guys being like that douche bag, especially when you called him the Gimp."

"Looks like you managed. It took you only five days to learn our language. Now I've gotta be careful not to talk too much around him."

"Don't worry about it," Erin said. "If he starts to understand you he'll think he's going crazy. Also, it helps that you talked while I was asleep."

"I can't believe you're this comfortable around this pervert. And how the hell did you toughen up so quick?"

"I have you guys to thank for that." I cocked my head slightly. "I was scared at the ravine, I don't doubt that. I wasn't used to seeing fighting like that. It scared me to see such brutality. But when I thought about it, all I could see was how far you guys were going to protect those close to you. It told me that I couldn't just be shy all the time, though I'm starting to wish I had this confidence back in high school."

"And why is that?" I questioned. She grinned and leaned in closer. I felt myself heating up.

"Because then I'd have had the guts to do this." She grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, pulled me close and pressed her lips against mine. In an instant, the world around me shattered. Everything I knew fell out of perspective and entered a black nothingness, but in a good way, like that was all I could focus on. I felt darkness creep over me and engulf me. When I awoke, Will was standing over my prone figure laughing.

"So you kissed him, and he passed out?" Will managed to ask Erin in between laughs.

"It was the shock," I said as I made my way to my feet.

"I don't doubt it," Will stated, still chuckling. "If it happened to me, I think I'd have the same reaction. But, it doesn't make it any less funny!" Will dropped to the floor and started to literally roll on the floor laughing. Erin was standing near Will trying to keep herself from bursting out laughing as well.

"What the hell's goin' on here?" Rick shouted. Apparently he'd recovered from the bane of all males and returned. Will quickly schooled himself and rose to his feet.

"Zero got kicked by one of the cows," Will lied. "I was checking on him to make sure he didn't have a concussion or broken bones. He's alright, just light headed."

"Good lie," I praised him. Will's grin grew larger.

"Doesn't change the fact my brother's a lightweight though," Will added earning a blush from both Erin and myself while Rick looked confused.

"Fuck you," I groaned. Rick shook his head.

"Stupid city boy! Ya gotta be careful when milkin' the cows! Touch em the wrong way and she'll kick yer head off!" Rick scolded.

"It wasn't his fault!" Erin shot back. "Something must have spooked the cow and she reacted."

"Maybe she saw that giant bat I saw this mornin'. I think anyone would be freaked out seeing that. Damn thing was as big as a person."

"You were just seeing things Rick!" Will shouted. "No bat is that large!" Rick scoffed and walked out, obviously annoyed. Will followed him shortly after.

"Do you regret it?" Erin asked. I looked at her questioningly. She blushed under my gaze. "The kiss."

"Well, it certainly came the fuck out of nowhere." Erin looked down. "But no, I don't regret it. I just wish I had a warning."

"I was right next to you and leaning closer! What more do you need?" I pointed at myself.

"Oblivious, remember?" Erin walked closer and wrapped her arms around me.

"Yes, but it makes you cuter."

"And you're cuter when you blush." This time we both moved in and pressed our lips together. We moved them against each other in a soft rhythm, increasing the heat we both felt. At least, I hope that was the case. Jeez, I'm so fucking awkward. It was a chaste kiss, of that much I'm sure. When we broke apart, we kept our bodies close. It just felt right this way.

"We should get back to work," she whispered after a few moments. Damn, I liked this. Oh well. We separated and went back to the chores we were supposed to do. Once those were done and dinner was finished, we went back to the barn for the expected hazing.

"Took your ass long enough!" Ash shouted, nudging me in the ribs.

"Take it easy! Nothing's been decided yet," I argued. I felt something tug on my shirt and when I turned Erin pulled me into another quick kiss.

"Yes it has," she said when we pulled apart.

"Okay, it's been decided," I agreed. "I'm certainly not complaining." Fuck morals at this point. They don't fucking matter. Sarah was giggling to herself next to Bear.

"I can't wait until you're whipped," Bear stated eagerly. "Then I can haze you like you haze me."

"Looking forward to it," I responded. "By the way. Razor, the farm boy saw you take off this morning. Try to be more careful."

"Will do," Razor replied with a mock salute. "The last thing we need is to be discovered this far in."

"There's been a crack in our defenses," Gimpy stated.

"That's not the only crack that's been made," Ash smugly said. After a few more jokes thrown around, things began to settle down a bit. Bear and Sarah went to their corner, as if we didn't know why. Ash and Razor went off to look out the window and Gimpy buried himself in a pile of hay. Why? The hell if I know.

I went back to my usual spot and rested my head on a bale of hay. It wasn't long before Erin laid next to me and rested her head on my chest again. I was happy, though I'd never admit it. At least I wouldn't when no one could hear me. I pulled Erin closer to me and hugged her. I felt truly at peace for the first time in years. It wasn't long before I fell asleep once more.

* * *

**-Sarah squees loudly while the others cover their ears-**

**Me: She has a set of pipes on her.**

**Zero: No kidding.**

**Ash: I'm a little surprised though. I thought Zero would end up making the first move.**

**Zero: Shut up Ash.**

**Razor: Well, this is only the beginning. A lot can happen given enough time. Now let's see how things develop from here.**

**Bear: I can't wait to start hazing him once he ends up whipped.**

**Gimpy: If he ends up whipped.**

**Bear: Don't ruin my happy time.**

**Me: That's it for this week. See you next time everyone and be safe!**


	16. When One Can Take No More

**Me: For those of you who so patiently waited, Chapter 16!**

**Zero: You _do_ still love us!**

**Me: I told you I do, but it's hard to update when sick.**

**Zero: Yeah, yeah. I know. I'm just glad you still care.**

**Me: Well, I figured I'd give you what you wanted this chapter.**

**Zero: You mean?**

**Me: Yep. Have fun.**

**Zero: Sweet! I'll get the disclaimer. Azard doesn't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected that Valve created. All he owns are the characters, the plot, and the Adaptor infected.**

**Me: Thanks Zero. Now for those who waited. Read and enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 16: When One Can Take No More

I woke up at some point in the middle of the night. I wasn't sure why but I couldn't sleep. I jumped to the ground level and let out a sigh. To my surprise, the door to the barn started to open, revealing Rick in all his shit-faced glory. I glared at him while he appeared shocked at my presence.

"What are you doing up at this hour?" He asked me. I groaned. How the hell was I supposed to answer considering he couldn't understand me?

"We could ask you the same thing," came my brother's voice from above. His voice was laced with sarcasm. Any idiot could tell what he wanted. I looked up as Will slid down the ladder and stood next to me. I sighed with slight relief that I had someone that could translate my 'moaning'.

"You don't belong here this early," I said while Will translated. Rick paused. It didn't take a genius to figure out he was trying to come up with a good lie. He had all the tell-tale signs of a liar. His eyes did anything but stay on us, his hands fidgeted, and I could swear I saw his legs tremble. I wondered if he was just nervous or afraid. I was hoping for the latter. He _should _fear me.

"I'm just going to leave now," Rick started to slowly back out but I rushed to the door and blocked him. He glared back at me.

"I'll give you one final warning," Will began, his glare burning a hole in the back of Rick's head. Rick turned to face my brother. "Stay the fuck away from our family. If you try anything again, I won't stop Zero from ripping each of your limbs off. Hell, I'll stop your dad from stopping him. He will kill you in one of the most horrible manners possible and _no one_ will save you." A strange smell filled the air. I glanced down a darkening spot running down his leg and snickered. He pissed himself!

I stepped out of the way and let the coward run out. I doubted he'd let this go. Will let out a loud sigh before he rested his head in his left palm. He shot me an apologetic look which I immediately dismissed.

"Don't worry Will," I said. "I doubt his dad would be very happy if we killed him now." I knew his dad would probably try to kill us. He wouldn't succeed, but he'd try.

"I doubt he'd let us do that even if Rick royally fucked up."

"He already has. He messed with us." I grew a sickening grin on my face that had my brother look at me with a knowing smile.

"I assume you have a plan?" He asked.

"Indeed I do." Truth was I did have a plan to both kill this fucker, dispose of the body and even a convincing lie to tell the parents. "With the way he is, it wouldn't be hard for the parents to believe he pissed off a traveler on her travels and she filled him with a twelve gauge slug before taking the body with her to prevent herself from being caught. Or then again, maybe it would. Maybe you'll have to talk to his dad about this to make the tale of demise more believable."

"Probably," Will admitted. "I don't think they'll believe it either way."

"They'll be pissed either way but perhaps we can direct their hate to something nonexistent."

"You think they won't check for this person?" Will asked.

"Not unless we tell them we only heard voices and a gunshot. They'll just look for someone potentially carrying a shotgun and perhaps a body, but by then the body will be twelve feet underground and the girl will have 'died' from being mauled by infected."

"I'm not about to kill an innocent person!" Will shouted.

"You won't have to," I calmly said. "We won't have to. All we need to do is find the mangled body of a female, preferably physically attractive, and place a twelve gauge shotgun in her hand."

"Makes sense. So when do we move?" I grinned.

"Midday. I've very little doubt we'll have to do much to lure him away." Will's expression hardened.

"Please for the love of all things right in the world that you're not going to use Erin as bait."

"Not if all things go according to plan."

"No battle plan survives contact with the enemy," Will lectured. "I forgot who said that quote but the point still stands."

"Even if that's true, Will, I doubt Zero would allow Erin to be anywhere close to danger if she couldn't handle it," Razor said from the second level. He was looking down on us from the ledge where the ladder was.

"She's not ready yet," I stated. "She's gotten tougher, but not enough to handle a hormonally driven farm man. They're usually physically strong due to constant labor and she's a city girl that's never so much as been in a fight. If he gets violent of forceful she won't be able to hold her own unless she kicks him in the nuts again but I don't want to risk her safety on a gamble. Besides, he kinda liked it the first time."

"Aw, how cute. You wuv her," Will mocked. I scowled at him.

"Jackass. Razor, you up for a disposal?" I questioned.

"I finally get to get rid of that son of a bitch?" Razor responded with a question of his own. I chuckled.

"You're disposing of his body, I'll kill him. I've honestly have enough of this guy's bullshit."

"What did he do?" Razor asked. "When I woke up all I heard was you guys talking about the plan."

"He tried to sneak in here not too long ago," I informed him.

"Looking to get some unconscious pussy, huh?"

"Either that or kidnap her then have his way," Will droned.

"Didn't take a genius to figure that much out," I spoke my thought from earlier. "I've had enough with this and I don't want to risk her safety any longer."

"So what's the plan?" Will asked.

"I gotta hear this," Razor added. "Should I wake everyone else?"

"No," I said. "Only the three of us are needed. Will, I'm leaving the luring to you. You'll lead him into the maize with some bullshit story. What that is depends on what you want. Once we've lured him away, I'll maul the fucker and tear him to shreds. Razor, you bag the remains and fly them as far away as possible... even better, take the body to the ravine and toss it down. If you don't want to do that, dig a twelve foot hole and drop his body in before filling it up. Whichever you choose is up to you."

"Yes sir!" Razor saluted. "I'll follow you to the area of demise!" Razor leapt out the window much to our confusion.

"You realize he jumped out the window before you could lead him to the spot," Will deadpanned.

"Yep."

"Going to go after him?"

"Eventually."

"What are you waiting for?"

"The rest of the plan being completed. Wake up Bear and have him keep Erin inside for today. Under no circumstances does she leave the barn for today."

"Consider it done. Just get moving!" I nodded and bolted outside to look for Razor. I eventually found him out back running in circles around the barn. Why he was doing that was beyond me.

"Took you long enough," Razor droned. "Now which way are we heading?"

"Nowhere until Will comes back out." Almost the second after I said that, Will walked out of the barn. Razor and I met up with him before rushing off. We chose a nice spot about two miles away from the farm. A perfectly good hidden area among the corn fields for a murder.

Fuck this is seeming like Children of the Corn all of the sudden. I'm starting to think like Stephen King. This was going to get good. Razor sprouted wings and flew off for a few hours but was back before the plan was to take place. Once the sun was at the peak of its cycle in the sky, Will rushed into the spot with Rick close on his heels. He looked around confused as Will turned toward him and grinned.

"What's goin' on?" Rick asked. Will put up his index finger and rotated it, the universal sign for turn around. Rick turned to face me, standing in his path back to his home. "What the hell?"

"Here he is big bro," Will said with malice lining his tone. "He's all yours." Rick shook with slight fear before trying to power through me. The second he rushed past me I grabbed his arm and ripped the limb off his body. He screamed loudly in pain and fell to the floor before I pulled him back and held on to his legs.

"What's the matter, Ricky?" I asked, not really caring that he couldn't understand. Will took it upon himself to translate what I was saying. "Scared now?" Rick looked up at me with terrified eyes. "We warned you, repeatedly. You never listened. You deliberately snuck into the barn this morning to have your way with my friend. I can deal with harmless perversion, catcalls, comments, but that's where I draw the line. Your life is now forfeit." I tore off his legs with one swift motion, increasing the amount of blood spray and screaming. "Don't worry, death will be your ultimate release." I stabbed my clawed hands into his throat and ripped it out.

"That was freaky bro," Will said. I gave him a confused glance. "The whole, 'Death will be your ultimate release thing'. That was so fucking creepy. Almost like you were a serial killer or something."

"That was fucking awesome!" Razor shouted as he rushed out of the maize. He scooped up the body and placed the pieces in a bag.

"I won't deny what you said was badass, but it seemed a bit much."

"You didn't translate it for him, so it doesn't matter. Break the news to the family later. I'm going with Razor and jumping in the river to clean myself off," I said. Will nodded as I jumped on Razor's back as he sprouted his wings and took off. I saw Will throw put gloves on and shovel some dirt over the spots with blood. Not a bad idea, though I didn't know if they came out this far on foot of all things. It was good to see Will preparing for the unlikely.

Razor flew off about ten miles in an obscure direction before dropping the body in a large hole that became young Rick's grave. We both filled up the hole quickly and by the time we were done, it was impossible to tell that the ground was disturbed at all. Razor then flew us to a small river closer to the barn that flowed southward. He dove straight into it with me still holding on, rising the blood off both of us. We made it back to the barn by suppertime, and by then the news had already been broken to the family. I walked inside the farmhouse to see just how bad it was.

Trish was in tears while Patrick tried to console her. They could always have another child, but perhaps that's just my cruelty talking and lack of sympathy for their loss. It probably didn't help that I killed him, but I didn't do it without reason. Rick was more than prepared to rape Erin and I'd be damned if I let that happen. After a sob-fest I really couldn't care less about, Will and I walked back inside the barn to see a very annoyed Erin.

"What did you do?" She asked me. I tilted my head cutely in confusion. "You're not fooling me. I know you had something do with Rick's demise."

"Are you complaining?" I questioned.

"Did you have a reason?" Erin responded with a question of her own. I looked toward Will for some sort of conformation. He nodded.

"He tried to sneak in here before you woke up," I explained. "I don't think you have to think very long to figure out what he wanted to do." Erin sighed and nodded.

"It's pretty obvious," She stated. I walked up to her and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into a hug.

"That was the last straw," I told her. "I wasn't about to put your safety at risk. Once warnings and threats don't work, action is all that's left. I wasn't about to risk it if a beating solved nothing."

"Chances are it wouldn't anyway," Will said. "You told me he got kicked in the nuts before and enjoyed it right?"

"Yep," I replied.

"Well, if a kick in the one place no man wants to be kicked didn't do the trick, I doubt anything would've."

"Not a chance." Erin and I went back to the top level and laid back down. Just like before, Erin put her head on my chest and soon fell asleep. It wasn't long before I followed suit.

* * *

**Me: That'll do it this time around.**

**Ash: I wonder how long it'll be before Erin jumps Zero after that stunt he pulled.**

**Me: That's not going to happen for a while. They've still gotta work stuff out.**

**Will: Like what?**

**Me: Typical stuff. They've gotta learn more about each other, figure out what they have in common–**

**Bear: All that romantic crap.**

**Me: Yep. That's the only way it'll work. A superficial crush can only last so long. If you get hitched based on that... you're fucked.**

**Zero: I'll agree.**

**Gimpy: What is this, Hollywood Squares?**

**Me: No, but I may just do that. Also, Children of the Corn is owned by Stephen King. Not me. Obviously. That's it for this week guys. Be good and be safe.**


	17. Recollection

**Me: Chapter 17 is finally up.**

**Zero: Is it me, or does this chapter seem kinda short?**

**Me: It's a short chapter.**

**Will: Why?**

**Me: This chapter is all about Zero thinking about the thing's he's done and how it relates to him either holding on to or losing his humanity.**

**Bear: That is always a big issue with the lug.**

**Zero: So do I still have it?**

**Me: You're going to have to read to find out. Now for the disclaimer.**

**Erin: Can I do it?**

**Me: Go for it.**

**Erin: Okay! Azard doesn't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected Valve created. All he owns are the characters, (Note to self: Try to convince Azard to write some more romance between me and Zero... maybe some _fun _times while he's at it.) the plot and the Adaptor infected.**

**Me: I heard that.**

**Erin: Dammit.**

**Me: Read and Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 17: Recollection

I woke up during the night again. It was honestly getting annoying. I found it troubling that I was having issues falling asleep. I walked over to the window that gave a view of the farm and sat in it. Everything I've done in life started to come back to me again, this time focusing on the people I've killed. I'm honestly concerned. Am I really in control here? Am I slowly losing my humanity? If you asked Bear or Razor they'd probably say, 'Hell no'. I think anyone from the clique would say that.

I wasn't so convinced. When I thought about those I killed, each and every one of them was in self-defense or in the defense of someone I care about. I'd be excused in seconds in a court of law... Hell, I _was _excused in a court before. That still didn't change the fact that this whole thing made me feel uncomfortable. I figured I'd look back on my victims and see how I felt after each one.

With any luck, I might be able to find some answers as to my behavior. Then again, I almost never had any luck with things like this and ended up with more questions than when I started. That's what usually happened anyway. Still, I wasn't going to get any answers by sitting here and complaining was I?

Not a chance in Hell. The light coming from the moon gave me some sort of peace. It was calming in its own way and made what I was going to do that much easier. I'm still not sure why but I always did my best thinking either at night or in the dark. If I was going to get any answers to anything, I'd have to revisit the incident in question.

I thought back to the first person I killed, Mr. Valore, Sarah's father. I killed him in not only my own defense but Sarah's as well. I felt no remorse for what I did, if my memory of the event is any indication. Then again, with the kind of shit he did, I wasn't surprised I didn't really give a flying fuck about ending his pitiful existence.

Still, thinking back on it, I can almost remember how I felt just after the event. Just before the police showed up and after I escaped from the burning home. I felt pride in myself. I was proud I was responsible for wiping such a shit-stain off the face of the earth.

Did I relish in it? Not really, more or less I was just happy that Sarah was okay. I recall thinking back on it while I was in holding and awaiting trial. I can vaguely remember seeing his blood on my hands... and _laughing_ about it.

It was a low laugh, if only to make sure the cops on duty didn't hear me, but it was still a laugh. That begs the question: Did I even have my humanity then? I killed the man without a second thought and without any trouble as well. I mean, sure my life and Sarah's were at stake, but I still shouldn't be proud in taking a life. I should've been proud in protecting my friend, and to a lesser extent myself, not in taking a life. How do you lose what you never had?

Perhaps I was over-thinking this. My pride in the kill could very well have come from an offshoot of saving one of my best friends. That was most likely the case. That overwhelming pride in protecting, in showing I had the power to protect most likely came from that. It seemed to make the most sense.

The second murder I can remember was the one idiot just after I reunited with Bear and Sarah. That one scared me the most and for good reason. I had lost all my memories at that point and seeing the horrors of the mindless horde that kill for no other reason than to kill had me terrified I was becoming one of them. Even Smokey disturbed me slightly by that point. I suppose that was to be expected though. He _embodied_ the insanity the infection caused.

I felt the same pride as when I murdered Mr. Valore, again to be expected. I protected Bear and Sarah as well as myself again. Protecting seemed to be the primary source of pride in my actions. Then comes the one thing I doubt I'll ever understand, the bloodlust.

After I killed that shotgun wielding bastard I stared at the blood on my hands. I... _liked_ it. I liked the feel of freshly spilled blood on my hands. I discounted it at first, mainly to keep whatever sanity I had left.

Now that I think about it, that enjoyment was most likely the effect the infection was having on my mentality. The feel of the blood though, something I'll never forget, felt warm and gooey. Almost like a freshly cooked over easy egg if you put it in your hands. Sounds gross, I know, but I liked it. It felt natural, like a predator that just killed its prey.

Again, perhaps I'm over-thinking this. Turning into a Hunter of all things would probably bring out my predatory instincts. That could have been the case. Was it? I didn't know. I didn't have a doctor around willing to not kill me and actually see what's going on in my head. That would make things so much easier, but nothing _ever_ comes easy. Not in this world. Not now.

This was not an easy thing to figure out. Were my predatory instincts kicking in? Possible. Was I completely losing my mind? Another possibility. Was I slowly falling into the madness the horde lives every day? Even more possible.

My mind began to wander to my basic instincts. Even in the first murder, my instincts tole me, 'It's kill or be killed' and I acted accordingly. It certainly seemed that my instincts were making some sort of precedence in my decision making now. I wondered just how many of my kills ended up being because of instincts.

My mind wandered to the most killing I'd ever done in one setting. The rescue of Erin from the other norms. Six kills in a matter of moments. I think that's a record for unarmed kills. Again with the pride. This was another slaughter brought about from the desire to protect someone... though I didn't really know Erin at the time. Maybe this one was more or less fueled by my powerful desire for justice? Did I even have one?

Maybe another flashback would come to me some day and let me know about that... wait it already did. Mr. Valore. Killing him was justice. I had a sense of justice after all.

Then again, that's to be expected, after all my friends and I were something like vigilantes back home. But was that really fueled by a sense of justice, or did we just want to be like superheroes? Honestly, the latter seemed more likely. I mean, what kid didn't want to be a superhero at some point in his or her life?

Six kills... Truthfully, I didn't think I had it in me. At least not in one sitting anyway. Outside of the six norms at one I must have killed at least six others. Mr. Valore, those two humans with the shotguns, Smokey, the charger, the hunter and now Rick. That's seven confirmed kills over the course of... well, a while.

I had almost matched that number in one instance of bloodshed. It was amazing when I thought about it. I wasn't exactly sure how I managed to kill six and _survive_ especially since one of those six launched a volley of bullets at me through an AK.

That was probably nothing short of a fucking miracle. Then again, it wasn't exactly surprising either. Most humans in panic tend to fuck up with simple things such as aim and common sense. Those six... with each kill I felt more and more predatory.

I felt a surge of power that kept me going and I could swear my vision went red at least once. It was a hell of a rush to be sure but that was probably adrenaline, yet another thing that shouldn't be working for me but apparently is. Although, there comes another fear. If adrenaline really isn't working, then that means I had acted on pure unadulterated instinct. If that was the case, I was slowly losing myself to my baser instincts.

The next kill was just another gun toting idiot which ended up being me keeping Gimpy from being shot in the back. The adrenaline came again, though I guessed I was more or less used to it by then. By that point in time I'd sort of made peace with what I had to do. Of course that peace was soon shattered but that's only because of my own insecurities.

The next kills were the other infected. I honestly didn't care much about them. They got what was coming to them and I did all I needed to do to keep my family safe. That bloodlust I discounted entirely... honestly it was the first time I felt it was truly justified.

Rick's death was probably the one that affected me the most and would keep affecting me. Although I did what I believed was right, I'd have to see the fruits of my labor every single day. I'd have to look into the eyes of his family every day as long as we were here.

The fact that I tore this family apart would stay with me, probably forever. I was honestly scared at how heartless I was concerning his life. 'They could have another kid'. When I say it now it sounds like I'm one hundred percent heartless. To be perfectly honest, it hurt me. It really did. Seeing his family cry over scum like him nearly killed me.

How could they care? Then again, it's like asking why I care about my Grandfather. He's family... and he'll always be family no matter what. No matter what rights or wrongs he'd committed, he's still family. I don't know if I can keep looking into Patrick and Trish's eyes. Every time I did before I could only see their pain. The pain _I_ inflicted upon them.

Wait a minute. I can't be losing my humanity if I'm caring about the pain I caused them and the pain they're in. I don't even really know about them and I care that I hurt them. Why do I care? It's human nature. It's standard humanity to feel sorrow when one loses someone close to them. That one fact proved I have some sort of humanity left.

Maybe that's all I'll need to keep myself sane. No matter what I've done in the past, I still have my humanity. I can still hold my head high and say I'm not becoming a monster. I let this information sink in as I walked back to my usual spot. I held Erin close to me as I felt myself drift off once more.

* * *

**Me: And that'll do it for this time.**

**Sarah: Justifying yourself must be tough.**

**Me: It is, especially when you yourself don't know if you're right.**

**Gimpy: I can imagine.**

**Razor: Kinda hard to do.**

**Ash: No kidding.**

**Me: Well that'll do it for this week. Be safe everyone.**


	18. Move Along

**Me: Chapter 18. Another short chapter but... I had to get them outta that farm.**

**Zero: So more or less, you needed an excuse to get us out of there.**

**Me: Big time. I was dry over there. Besides, travel is an adventure all on its own.**

**Rendan: Sounds like a hell of a lot of fun.**

**Bear: Who the hell?**

**Zero: Another story dude.**

**Me: Well, while they get acquainted, I'll get the disclaimer. I don't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected. They are all owned by Valve. The only things I own are the characters, plot and the Adaptor infected. Now, read and enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 18: Move Along

I awoke to some gentle nudging. A nice contrast to waking up to that damned rooster. When I opened my eyes my sight was so blurry I couldn't make out the figure in front of me.

"Get up and move slow, we're getting out of here," the figure said. I was so damned tired I assumed it was Will telling me we're finally getting the hell away from this farm. A lot of memories I'd rather not remember here. I stood up and started moving toward my family to wake them. If we were moving on, they needed to know.

"What the hell are you doing?" I rubbed my eyes and continued walking. I heard something click... no it wasn't a click, it was someone cocking a shotgun.

I turned around to see Patrick and Trish holding weapons and staring at me confused. My eyes shot wide open at what I missed. How could I be so goddamned careless? I looked for Will and a way to wake him up. Thankfully I found a small rock under my foot. I snatched it up and launched the rock straight into my brother's head, waking him up in a shock.

"OW! What the hell?" Will shouted. Will's shout woke Erin from her slumber. Seeing what was going on, she rushed in front of me and stood in front of me. She's trying to protect me now? Damn, she really toughened up. Her actions seemed to draw confusion from the couple.

"Keep it down, Will!" Patrick shouted. Will immediately shot up and stared at me, then at them, then back to me.

"Bro," he began, "what happened?" The question was worded carefully, so as not to arouse any suspicion.

"It seems we've been revealed for the most part. I'm not leaving this spot though," I responded. Will nodded.

"What did he say?" Trish asked. Patrick must've told her about our 'bond'.

"We're fucked," Will answered.

"If you two don't get away from those monsters you are," Patrick answered lowly. I growled, which didn't go unnoticed. I looked toward the rafter where Ash was hiding. By the looks of it he was still asleep. Fuck! The one time we need that tongue and he's sleeping. I did the only thing I could think of at that moment. I backed up and stood defiantly in front of my family.

"What the hell is he doing?" Trish asked incredulously. Just then a tongue shot out and wrapped around both guns before pulling them out of Patrick and Trish's hands. Thank hell, Ash is finally awake. Seconds later, the couple found themselves surrounded by my family. Then again, being that loud would definitely wake someone up. Bear and Sarah stood behind them, blocking their escape.

"Cut this shit out all of you!" Will shouted. Patrick and Trish were beyond stunned when Bear, Sarah, Gimpy, Razor and Ash seemed to sit on the floor calmly. Will turned toward the couple. "Now that that's settled... what are you doing in here?" Patrick looked at Will with no small amount of confusion.

"This is our barn!" Patrick shouted.

"I'm well aware of that, but why would you come in this early in the morning carrying guns of all things?" Will asked.

"I came in to wake up you, Erin and Zero up for work. I thought it'd be a nice change of pace to waking up to that rooster. Obviously Zero wasn't used to it and I thought it'd help a little."

"Figures," I muttered. "One random act of kindness fucks everything up!" Erin wrapped her arms around me in a small attempt to calm me down. Unsurprisingly, it worked.

"Yeah," Will agreed. "Now we've got a huge fucking misunderstanding."

"What's to misunderstand?" Patrick asked. "There are several infected that are here to kill us and for some reason you can control them."

"I can't control them," Will stated, straight faced. "They have their humanity intact and only attack to protect themselves."

"And we're supposed to believe that?" Patrick questioned. Will looked toward me and I nodded.

"My brother is all the proof you need."

"Your brother?" He looked toward me with a careful eye.

"He's a Hunter."

"Prove it." Obviously Patrick didn't believe Will. Then again, who could really blame him? Having to face the reality that some infected are still able to maintain their humanity is incredibly tough to take in. I crouched and easily leapt to the other side of the barn before leaping back to my former position. Patrick's jaw dropped and Trish nearly fainted.

"You mean to tell us he's been infected this entire time and hasn't tried to kill us yet?" Trish asked.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Will confirmed. "He's been a hunter for over three months and has been able to maintain his sanity and humanity."

"However slightly," I added earning a chuckle from the clique.

"Not so slightly anymore," Erin stated before pressing her lips against mine again. If there was one thing we were doing constantly, it was making Patrick and Trish's jaws drop.

"If he's infected and she's not," Patrick started to put things together.

"We don't know, we don't want to know and we don't care," Will said. "Besides, him tanning is starting to make us wonder if he really is dead. If that's the case, maybe the virus only altered his genes to give him his abilities. As I said, we don't know, don't want to know and really don't care. As long as they're happy it's good enough for us."

"How could she fall for him though?" Patrick asked, obviously wondering why she'd choose a hunter over his kid. Either that or how did she fall for a hunter in the first place.

"It helps that she's had a crush on him since high school," Will pointed out.

"He was a man among men then and still is, even if he's a Hunter," Erin said before nuzzling into my neck. I felt myself heat up as I saw Will mouth that I was blushing.

"Listen, you won't have to worry about us anymore," Will began. "We're leaving as soon as we can find an abandoned area to relocate to."

"I already found one," Razor said. All of us, save Patrick and Trish, turned and gave Razor hard looks. If he already found one, why did he wait so damn long to tell us.

"And how long have you known of one?" I asked.

"Yesterday after we... you know. I took off after you fell asleep and found one after an hour of searching."

"Well that's... convenient," Bear chimed in.

"Who cares?" Sarah questioned. "Finally we can get a spot all to ourselves."

"How far away is it?" Ash asked, still on the rafters.

"About fifty or so miles. It'll take maybe a day or so to get there. Less if we take no breaks, obviously."

"Sounds like fun! But what could I do that involves ramming?" Gimpy shot out his own question. We all looked at him. Ever since he became a Charger he's been shooting out ramming jokes almost nonstop. "You know I didn't mean it that way you goddamn perverts!"

"Why does he make so many damned ramming jokes?" Erin questioned. Gimpy grew a grin on his face.

"They're fun!" Gimpy responded.

"Ramming aside," Will started, making both Patrick and Trish tilt their heads in confusion, "we'll be leaving by midday."

"So, you found one?" Patrick asked. I was a little more than shocked that they became so civil about all of this. I'd half expected them to attack us even if they didn't have weapons. I'd seen crazier after all.

"Yeah, we're heading out as soon as possible so you won't have to worry about infected being around anymore." Patrick nodded.

"Can... can we go now?" Trish asked with more than a hint of terror in her voice. Being surrounded by special infected, regardless of retained humanity, must have been terrifying. I wouldn't know considering they never bothered me... well, except for Smokey anyway. Will nodded and Bear and Sarah stepped aside. The couple wasted no time and left the barn.

"So we leave at noon," Ash said.

"No," Will corrected. "We're leaving now. We can't risk our family's safety on the chance they won't call a posse together."

"Posse? Are we suddenly in the Old West?" Bear questioned. We chuckled.

"No, but I'd rather get out before there's a mob burning this place down," Will stated.

"I agree," Razor said. Without another word we all left the barn. Even in broad daylight we had to move. Every minute we stayed stationary was another minute we could have been closer to death. It wasn't a guarantee we'd be hunted by a posse but by that same token, there was no guarantee we'd be safe either.

We resumed typical formation and left the barn with no good-byes. It's not like Patrick and Trish could understand us in the first place. I was never one for long good-byes anyway. Then again, I couldn't say the same about everyone else. Nobody seemed to really give it a second thought, something I was silently thankful for.

I did feel somewhat guilty. This was my fault I was so damned readable when it came to that fucking rooster. I couldn't really be held accountable though. No one really could stand that thing. It was one problem after another. There was no other choice. We had to move along. We'd move along until there was nowhere else to go. And if even then there was nowhere to go, we'd make one ourselves. Only time would tell where our new road would lead us.

* * *

**Me: And that'll do it.**

**Zero: You weren't kidding when you said short.**

**Ash: Things don't need to be long to have impact.**

**Sarah: I can't believe an act of random act of kindness turned into a reason to get the hell out of there.**

**Razor: Stranger things have happened.**

**Gimpy: We've seen just about it all.**

**Me: Hell, even _I've_ seen stranger. This kinda stuff is commonplace to what I've seen.**

**Erin: Now where are we going?**

**Me: Going to have to wait until next chapter to find out. Be good and be safe guys! I'm outta here!**


	19. Music Heals Everything

**Me: Chapter 19 is done.**

**Zero: Hell yeah!**

**Gimpy: Cheers!**

**Ash: Joy!**

**Bear: Wheeee!**

**Razor: Hoorah!**

**Erin: Boys can be so silly sometimes.**

**Sarah: Sometimes? Try all the time.**

**Me: I don't regret it. As long as we have fun we don't give a crap.**

**Erin: I'll handle the disclaimer. Azard doesn't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected created by Valve. The things he owns include the plot, the characters and the adaptor infected.**

**Me: Thanks. Now, Read and Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 19: Music Heals Everything

"When all you got to keep is strong, move along, move along like I know you do," both Razor and Ash sang, surprisingly, in perfect harmony. "And even when your hope is gone, move along, move along just to make it through." Those two had been singing that song for the past two hours since we left the barn. Once we chose our path and starting walking, they started singing. I didn't mind, the song was catchy and it helped keep our spirits up. Not to mention it was and still is one of my favorite songs.

"So a day when you've lost yourself completely, could be a night when your life ends," I joined in. I couldn't help it. That song was a fucking virus that spread to all of us. HA! Irony! It wouldn't be long until the rest of the clique joined in.

"Such a heart that will lead you to deceiving, all the pain held in your," Bear started singing.

"Hands are shaking cold, Your hands are mine to hold," the whole group began singing. Called it so fucking hard. "Speak to me! When all you got to keep is strong move along, move along like I know you do. And even when your hope is gone, move along, move along just to make it through."

"Move along," I sang. Don't know what possessed me to take that part, but I don't regret doing it. Neither did the rest of the group apparently.

"Go on, go on, go on, go on," the rest sang in backup singer fashion. It made me chuckle a bit.

"When everything is wrong we move along."

"Go on, go on, go on, go on."

"When everything is wrong, we move along. Along, along, along. When all you got to keep is strong, move along, move along like I know you do. And even when your hope is gone, move along, move along, just to make it through!"

"When all you got to keep is strong, move along, move along, like I know you do!" We resumed singing together. I honestly don't know what the fuck came over us just bursting into song like this. "And even when your hope is gone, move along move along just to make it through!"

"Right back what is wrong, we move along," I continued solo. The song seemed to finally end as the whole group shared a laugh.

"Well that didn't work exactly how I planned it," Ash admitted, "but it had a hell of a turnout." He and Razor began laughing harder than the rest of us.

"It was getting depressing when we left that barn so we figured to sing something to keep morale up," Razor said.

"Look how well that worked," I laughed out. "You got the whole fucking group to start singing."

"And we got the leader to hit the solo!" Ash cheered.

"You planned that?" I asked.

"Damn right!" Razor replied. "You were the one who got us hooked on that goddamned song. It only felt right to let you hit the solo."

"So does that mean when we start singing 'Stand My Ground' by Within Temptation that we let Sarah take lead vocals, considering she got us hooked on it?" I questioned. Sarah seemed to ponder the idea for a moment.

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Bear shouted, causing Sarah to turn her head in an attempt to hide that huge blush that hit her.

"How about when we start with 'Six' by All That Remains that we give Bear lead singer?"

"As long as it's the screaming parts," he agreed.

"Then who gets the non-screaming parts?" Razor asked.

"I vote for Zero, Will, Ash or Razor," Bear responded. "No offense Gimpy, but that song isn't your forte."

"None taken," Gimpy brushed aside the comment. "I'll take lead rapper when we sing 'We Made It' by Busta Rhymes with Linkin Park. Maybe Ash could take the other rapper."

"Dunno," Ash began, "I'm not really a rap guy. I'm more into alternative than anything really. Linkin Park is a bit of my forte though."

"Why are we even discussing this when we can't sing for shit?" I asked.

"What are you talking about? We did a damn good job!" Will shouted.

"That's not my point! While it sounds good to us what will the other norms hear?"

"Who gives a shit?" Sarah asked. "What's important is that we're having fun!" I sighed.

"Point made, point made." At this point it didn't matter if we were heard. No normal in his right mind would take on six special infected all in one place. Not unless he had a death wish anyway.

"I wonder how long it'll be before we start singing songs from Hollywood Undead," Gimpy offhandedly commented.

"Not for a while I think," I droned.

"Damn, they have good songs."

"No one's saying they don't. Not exactly a place for girls there though," Sarah stated.

"Since when has that stopped us?" Erin asked. "All American Rejects are all guys but we joined in just fine. I prefer the chorus anyway. That's where all the fun of the song is."

"Agreed."

"So now what?" Will asked.

"We keep going and hope he reach our new home by nightfall," I said.

"We won't make it by then," Razor said. "We should rest in a secluded spot and rest for the night. That's when all the posses should be coming out and if they find us..." He trailed off.

"Got it," Bear said. We had to move slower than normal because of Bear. He had to take every step carefully so he didn't cause too much noise.

"Anyone up for another song?" Ash asked.

"What did you have in mind this time?" Razor responded with a question of his own. I had to suppress more laughter. We just got kicked out of our home and now we're singing as if nothing happened. Music worked in weird ways to say the least. Insane ways to say the most.

"Well about that... You see... No, no I don't," Ash admitted. We all laughed.

"What kind of song could we possibly sing this time anyway?" Gimpy asked.

"Something inspirational and uplifting!" Ash all but shouted. Sarah, Will and Gimpy went into thinking poses.

"How about... no," Sarah began but abruptly ended.

"We could... nah that's no good," Will did the same.

"Perhaps... fuck no," Gimpy followed suit. I would have suggested something... if I had something to suggest. 'We Made It' would have been a decent enough choice in our opinion, but that's a triumph song more than anything else. That would have to be saved for a final victory.

"I got nothing," Razor said. Great. Now we're up shit creek without a paddle... or at least a pair of bongos to make the trip more pleasant.

"Do we _have_ to sing?" Erin asked. Everyone seemed to look at each other before shrugging.

"We don't have to," Ash stated, "but it helps to pass the time."

"Then let's just _talk _about the music we like!"

"Well, I said I was into alternative."

"I'm into just about anything so long as it's catchy or I like it," I said.

"I'm into rap and rock," Gimpy added.

"Metal and rock," Razor chimed in.

"I'm in the same boat with Zero," Will said. Ash and Bear agreed.

"I like anything that sounds sweet," Sarah voiced her preferences.

"So you'd be interested in songs like 'Nothing Else Matters' by Metallica?" I asked.

"That's right," Sarah agreed. "It's also a little bit of a love song."

"A love song?" Gimpy asked.

"So close no matter how far, couldn't be much more from the heart, forever trust in who we are and nothing else matters," Sarah sang the lyrics as if she'd written them herself.

"Damn," the males of the group, myself included, collectively gasped.

"That was so natural for you," Erin praised.

"Thanks," Sarah replied as she rubbed the back of her neck. I'd recovered from whatever shock hit but it seemed that no one else did. While we continued walking their faces still held a look of semi-shock.

"We'll have to do that song at some point," Razor said.

"Not us," Ash pointed out. "That's for our resident couples to do." Bear and Sarah blushed. I know I did too but I tried to hide it. Erin surprised me though. She didn't blush, she had a smirk on her face, a smirk I found very, very alluring. Damn hormones that shouldn't even be working! Why must you torture me? We ended up walking until nightfall. We spent the majority of the time talking about music and bands.

We managed to bunker down in the center of a giant area of maize. It was good enough to keep us hidden and the corn wasn't mature enough to be harvested. A near perfect hiding spot. We all laid on the maize and rested our heads. No matter where we went and what we did three things remained constant. One was that Bear and Sarah slept next to each other. Two was that Erin now slept with her head on my chest. Three was that the rest of the clique was close yet apart.

"Yo Zero," Ash called to me.

"Yeah?"

"Did we really just spend near a whole day just talking about music?"

"Huh... Guess we did. Do you regret it?"

"Nope. You?"

"Not a chance in hell."

"You going to use 'Nothing Else Matters' as your wedding song?"

"... You suck, Ash."

"I love you too, bro." It wasn't long before the solace that came with sleep claimed the entire group, myself included.

* * *

**Me: Secondary disclaimer. All songs mentioned or sung in this chapter belong to their respective singers and companies. As such, 'Move Along' belongs to the All American Rejects and the company they've signed with.**

**Zero: You really suck, Ash.**

**Ash: You can't deny what's inside.**

**Zero: I'm not denying anything!**

**Razor: So are you going to use it?**

**Zero: ... Maybe.**

**Sarah: Wow. Well it fits them quite well. **

**Me: I agree. Anyway, that'll do it for me this week. Or at least until Saturday. Be good and be safe everyone! I'm outta here!**


	20. Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness

**Me: Chapter 20 is up!**

**Erin: YAY!**

**Sarah: All right!**

**Bear: Um, weren't they the ones complaining we were cheering about the new chapter last time?**

**Zero: Indeed they were. I don't care though, I like watching Erin jump up and down.**

**Gimpy: Perv.**

**Zero: Only for her.**

**Will: I've got the disclaimer. Azard doesn't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected created by Valve. All he owns is the plot, characters and the Adaptor infected.**

**Me: Thanks Will. Read and Enjoy! **

* * *

Chapter 20: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

I awoke the next morning feeling like someone had hit me with a ton of bricks. Strange that I'd somehow get a headache. I seriously hate reminding myself that I'm supposed to be dead and this shit _really_ shouldn't be happening. I stretched myself out and rose to my feet. A few stray leaves tickled under my nose and I had to suppress the urge to sneeze. Yet another thing I shouldn't be able to do... sneeze.

"Morning Zero," Ash called.

"Morning Ash," I called back. I rubbed my head in annoyance. Waking up started to become more annoying than anything else anymore. When I slept, I became groggy the next morning. When I didn't sleep, I had no issues whatsoever! Why did I even sleep anyway? A small yawn coming from next to me caught my attention. I looked down and saw Erin hugging my foot in my place since I'd gotten up. She had a small blush on her face and a sweet smile tugging at her lips. Right, that's why I slept. Because I could see that when I woke up.

"Looking at your girlfriend for some peace?" Ash asked me. I looked down at her again and had to smile.

"You know it," I replied. "So when are we waking everyone up?"

"Now." Ash picked up a pot and a wooden spoon and started slamming the spoon into the pot. Where the fuck did he get those? It took only a few hits for almost everyone to wake up and it seems that they had the same question I had.

"Where the fuck did you get those?" We all exclaimed. Well, everyone except Erin. She hadn't fully woken up yet. Her eyes opened with a flutter as she stirred herself out of her slumber. She had a cute pout on her face when she realized she was hugging my foot and instead of my chest like usual. I chuckled slightly, then remembered what the fuck had happened before.

"So where exactly did you get those?" I asked, more calmly this time. Ash grinned before he broke out into a full smile.

"I stole them," he simply said. Gimpy and Razor did perfect impressions of anime characters by effectively face vaulting into the ground before quickly recovering. "I stole them from Patty and Trishy." Patrick and Trisha? How the fuck had he pulled that one off? I figured it was better not to know. For all I knew he stole them during the night and hid them up his ass. Like I said, better not to know.

"Well, shall we get a move on?" Gimpy questioned. With a group nod we resumed walking. We rediscovered the road and followed it. According to Razor we'd get there much faster if we followed the road. Razor took the lead and showed us the way. About half an hour into the walk, Will glanced toward the sky thoughtfully. He said nothing for a while but his expression remained in the same thoughtful pose.

"What do you think he's thinking about?" Ash asked no one in particular. Bear looked up at his male on his right shoulder then to the two women sharing his left. He tilted his head slightly, since shrugging would've thrown them all off.

"Whatever it is," Ash started, "it must be very profound."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "This is my little brother after all." I became slightly worried when Will didn't have a comeback line for that little jab. Usually he'd quickly jump out of his train of thought long enough to take a jab at me before returning into his mind.

"Is he even alive?" Gimpy questioned. Sarah crawled to Bear's other shoulder and carefully checked his pulse.

"He's alive," Sarah reported.

"A comparison of struggles, although different, is not totally uncalled for. While the struggles themselves are different, we want the same things, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," Will said. It caught us all off guard when he said that. Poor Sarah fell off of Bear's shoulder. Thankfully, Razor caught her so she didn't get hurt. For one, it came the fuck out of nowhere. Second, we had no fucking idea what he was talking about... well I didn't for the moment.

"Will," Razor began.

"Where the _fuck_ did that come from?" I finished.

"Grandpa," Will simply replied. I found myself glancing toward the ground. It made sense. Gramps would always talk to us about history and the like. I think he firmly believed in the old saying, 'Those who do not know the past are condemned to repeat it.' Then again, I think _everyone _from his generation believed in it.

"How exactly does it apply?" Razor asked.

"Well, compare what we're trying to achieve to another struggle. For example, the American Revolution," Will said.

"Um, Will," Sarah began, "we're not fighting the British. I kinda like the British."

"I never said that we were, but we are fighting on two different fronts if you think about it. We're fighting normals when they attack you guys and we're against the infected when they attack Erin and me. We're doing all of it for the right to live freely and be happy. We may be fighting different enemies but our goals are very much the same."

"To live the way we want without fear of persecution..." Bear said almost robotically. It made me chuckle a bit.

"Looks like something finally got through that thick skull of yours," Gimpy joked.

"What do you think Gramps would say if he saw us now?" I questioned, more to myself than anyone else. I'd said before that my grandfather was my hero and I stand by that statement. That man went through almost everything we had and more. I say almost because I seriously doubt he was turned into a hunter by one of his friends, killed all his friends, turned them into infected, discovered some sort of awkward romance and led his friends to freedom... in that order, although I was still working on that last bit.

"I have an idea of what he'd say," Will said. "He'd ask, 'How have you been? What the hell happened to you? How did you get everyone here? Do you have a girlfriend yet? If so who is she?' and 'Have you done more than kiss yet?' Since you can't answer I'd answer for you. I'd answer, 'Fine. I became a hunter. We left Mercy City just before it was bombed and walked. Yes I do, she's right here.' I'd point to Erin for extra emphasis, and the last thing I'd say is, 'Yes we have. We make hot whoopie every night!' HA!"

With my face burning I leapt at my brother and knocked him off of Bear's shoulder. We began to wrestle on the ground each of us trying to get a good hold on the other. Will had me in a headlock for all of five seconds before I managed to reverse it into a half nelson. He threw me back and quickly jumped to his feet. We rushed each other again and began wrestling on the floor.

"You know," Bear began, "I sometimes forget just how much like brothers they are." Will threw me over his head and caught me in an arm bar.

"They _are_ brothers Bear," Razor deadpanned. I managed to reverse it and caught him in a leg lock.

"I know that! I'm talking about how they fight like this. They rarely fought like this when Zero was alive. They're acting more like brothers do _now._"

"I'll be damned, you're right," Gimpy agreed. "Those two idiots never fought like this."

"We can hear you, you know!" Will and I shouted as we continued trying to get the other to surrender.

"We know!" They all replied.

"You're putting football against basketball bro! You can't win!" I exclaimed. I rushed him and tackled him to the floor before I wrestled him into a full nelson. "Say Uncle!"

"Never!" He cried, though he was obviously enjoying the fight as much as I was.

"Say Uncle!"

"No!"

"Methinks they're enjoying this way too much," Ash droned.

"Battle Royal?" Gimpy suggested.

"No, not yet," Razor said. "Let's wait until we have our home before we destroy it with a Battle Royal."

"Is it possible we don't destroy it at all?" Sarah asked.

"If there's a Battle Royal, there's always going to be destruction involved," Ash said.

"It's practically impossible to do otherwise in a true one," Bear added.

"Battle Royal?" Will and I asked. We got off the ground and stood apart.

"We're going to have one once we get our home." Will and I looked at each other.

"We'll settle this in the Battle Royal," I stated in a mock hero voice.

"Agreed," Will finished the stereotypical banter in a mock villain voice. For added emphasis, he rubbed his hands together sinisterly.

"Sometimes I wonder what goes through their minds," Sarah droned.

"Something tells me if we tried, our heads would explode," Erin deadpanned. We resumed our usual formation and proceeded on our way. When I looked at the sky and saw the sun, I realize we wasted a good amount of time with that stupid wrestling match. I let out a heavy sigh. It was simply way too easy to get distracted anymore.

"How much further?" Ash asked.

"About another mile," Razor said.

"Just fucking great," Ash complained. I know why he was complaining. If it weren't for that stupid wrestling match we'd be much closer than we already were. The road eventually ended and we had to travel through some forest terrain. I prefer forests for some reason. The foliage was lush and green. The grass was littered with small plants and a few rabbit holes as well. Hello dinner.

We walked around a couple trees before Razor stopped dead in his tracks. Gimpy walked up to Razor and looked in the direction that Razor was staring. After a few moments of quiet Razor decided to speak up.

"Maybe we should find another place to go," Razor said softly.

"Why?" Bear asked.

"I didn't see anyone here before. Now there's a couple staying in this cabin," Razor explained.

"A couple?" Ash questioned.

"An older couple," Gimpy supplied. "Somewhere in their sixties if I had to guess."

"That's... strange," I stated.

"I'll say," Razor agreed. "I mean, I know this is fairly safe but for an elderly couple it seems a little... troublesome. Especially when it would come to collecting firewood and food."

"I can see that," Will said.

"How do you think the kids are doing?" Came the voice of the elderly woman. I couldn't see her from behind Razor but... her voice was familiar.

"With any luck they've survived," the male said. That voice was familiar too! It seems that Will thought so too. We sped past Razor to look at the cabin. That man... he couldn't be.

"Grandpa?" Will and I asked.

* * *

**Me: And that'll do it for this time.**

**Zero: Grandpa!**

**Me: Yep, now you finally know that he's alive. I'm going to cut this short so Zero and Will could have a party so... That'll do it for this week. Be good and be safe cuz we're going to party!**


	21. Grandparental Return

**Me: Chapter 21 is up.**

**Sarah: I wonder how you're going to continue this one.**

**Erin: I think he has a plan.**

**Me: I do. While I do try to keep things humorous while adding a bit of drama.**

**Gimpy: I got the disclaimer. Azard doesn't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected owned by Valve. All he owns are the characters, plot and the Adaptor breed of infected.**

**Me: Thanks, Gimpy.**

**Ash: Read and Enjoy! **

* * *

Chapter 21: Grandparental Return

I stopped gaping and rubbed my eyes before looking again. I had to make sure I wasn't dreaming in some way. Wait, isn't that normally supplied by a pinch? I pinched myself. Not dreaming. I just couldn't believe it. How the hell did my grandparents end up here? Will, hell help him, didn't have my restraint. Then again he didn't _need_ my restraint. If I ran to them now... I'd probably get a pat on the head and a hug. Why was I still standing here again? Oh right, because I'm a moron.

I rushed out of the trees and charged my grandparents, taking care not to move too quickly or else they may suspect something. Then again, they'll suspect something since I can't actually _speak_ to them. Maybe this was a bad idea.

"Will! Zero!" My grandparents cried. They had tears in their eyes, just like they did before they left. We charged into them and wrapped them in hugs. It had been months since we last saw them. If memory serves, which it doesn't much anymore, they left about a few months before the actual infection started and they most likely didn't know of my... death. No matter how many times I say that it never gets any less freaky.

"Grammy! Gramps!" Those were our nicknames for them. Grammy had the innate ability to just make us burst out laughing. She'd mess up saying the simplest words sometimes and when she'd try to run with it and act like it was nothing, she'd mess up the entire statement and it'd sound like a foreign language. We called her Grammy because of the Grammy awards that would take place. My excuse for it, she was a prize in and of herself.

Gramps was a slightly different story. My brother and I just never liked saying Grandpa if we could help it. We settled on Gramps as a type of middle ground. Gramps certainly didn't mind. He used to call us Granks, a shorthand for grandkids or Grans, for grandson. Again, it was a kind of middle ground and he'd only do it when we'd joke around... which was about ninety percent of the time.

Both of them knew about my disdain for my real name if I remembered correctly and took to calling me Zero as well. That would be fine if I remembered _why _I hated my real name. Hell I don't remember my _name_ at all!

"How did you escape the infection?" Grammy asked as she fought back a sniffle. Will smirked when he heard her voice. It was nice to have _some_ family members care about you. We both stepped back and got a good look at our grandparents again for the first time in what seemed like ages. Come to think of it, I could barely remember what they looked like, how did I recognize them so quickly? Oh well, that's not important at this time.

Grammy wasn't that tall, maybe around five foot four. She had dark brown eyes and the same color hair that somehow stayed the same shade since she was a young girl. Her hair was kinda poofy. I say that meaning her hair was short but stayed up in a way that wasn't an afro. It almost looked like she had a loaf of fresh baked bread for hair. Almost like a soufflé. No, _exactly _like a soufflé. She was wearing a white sweatshirt, why in this weather was beyond me, and blue sweatpants with white shoes.

Gramps was slightly taller than her, perhaps around five foot five if my guess is correct. His hair was brown but was graying in quite a few areas. His hair was combed back. Despite his years, he's managed to keep his hair healthy and full of volume. His eyes remained that dark brown I remember from the memories I've recovered. he wore a plaid, red, button down shirt and blue jeans with black sneakers. Now that I think about it, what shocked me the most was how Will and I towered over them. I had my six foot two and Will had his five foot ten. Five inches may not seem like much but believe me, it's a difference.

"We kinda wouldn't have been able to if it wasn't for Zero," Will said. I smiled. Will was lying and I knew it. He could have escaped the city long before those fucking bombs leveled the city. Then again, my friends and I wouldn't have gotten out if it wasn't for Will getting that damned radio to work. "Don't be modest bro." How did he know what I was thinking? "You helped me and my team save one of our own and we wouldn't have survived if it wasn't for you and your friends."

"You still would have gone even if we didn't help you, huh?" I asked him. I tried to keep my voice low so my grandparents wouldn't hear.

"Of course," Will replied out loud. "You said it yourself a few years back. 'I'll never abandon a friend in need.' She's our friend and would gladly have died trying to protect her."

"You learned too much from me it seems," I said... a little too loudly. I braced myself for either gunshots or gasps of surprise. Neither came.

"Will always did look up to you, Zero," Grammy said. Our jaws dropped. What the fuck? How? When? Why? Where? Some of these don't make any fucking sense but it's all I'm able to think about! How the fuck did they understand me?

"Maybe it's one of those things that happened between us, Zero," Will stated lowly, sensing my distress. "That we all have such a close bond it breaches the language barrier."

"Language barrier?" Gramps questioned. "What language barrier?" Fuck, I forgot he had great hearing. I looked at Will and nodded before bracing myself for what was about to come.

"Gramps," Will began solemnly, "Zero died a little over three months ago." To say the area was silent was to say the ocean was damp. Massive understatement.

"Zero's standing right here," Gramps said. "How can he be dead unless..." the silence that descended upon us was suffocating. I dropped my head. I was always afraid of this. Being killed by my own family because of this. "He's an infected."

"A hunter, specifically," I filled in. My grandpa smirked. Wait, smirked? What the fuck? He isn't looking to kill me?

"Prove it," he challenged. "Jump to that tree and back." Looking at the tree that was clear within my jumping distance. Without a word I jumped to the tree and back. When I landed, Gramps looked at me with a smile on his face. "Impressive." You know, Gramps is taking this better than I thought he would. "Are your friends like you? You know, sane?" I nodded. "Where are they?" Will and I glanced toward each other before glancing back to the trees.

"Back there," Will answered. Gramps looked toward the trees and motioned for them to come out. From what I saw, they hesitated but eventually complied. "I'm surprised you're taking this so well." Gramps smiled.

"Infected or not, you're still my grandsons. If you're sane, I have no reason to attack or kill you. But," Gramps whacked me on the back of my head, "that's for not telling me you were infected sooner."

"We only just found you!" I shouted.

"No excuses," Gramps retorted. Everyone laughed at me. Well, the clique did. Erin walked up to me and hugged my arm. Gramps grew a grin on his face. Something at the back of my mind was tugging at me. I just wish I remembered what. "Is this your girlfriend?" I felt my face heat up and glanced to Erin to see her blushing. I nodded.

"Hello," Erin greeted as she detached herself to shake my grandfather's hand. "It's been a while." Gramps smiled.

"Indeed it has. I can't believe you finally nabbed him." My eyes shot open. That's why that grin tugged at my mind! It was his all-knowing grin! How the fuck did I miss that?

"You knew?" I asked intelligently. Okay... okay, not intelligently. Stupidly.

"I met your grandparents during one of your football games your first year. He... knew I had a crush on you and encouraged me to take a chance," Erin explained. "Sadly I didn't get the courage until recent."

"Why is that?" Grammy asked her. Great. She was in on it too.

"I wasn't aware Zero had died because of the panic that had engulfed most of the population. When he helped save me, I found out that he passed and became a hunter. Then, not much longer after that, he almost died when he fell off a ravine." She had to bring that back up. "I always thought I had time but... that told me I had very little and had to act. After I toughened up a bit after dealing with a pervert, I just kissed him and it went from there."

"Told you it would work," Gramps said. That's where she got that from! Gramps, Gramps, Gramps... what am I going to do with you? Great, now I'm thinking of my grandpa like a parent would a troublemaking toddler. This is ludicrous!

"I always wondered where she got _that_ direct approach from," I said absently. It always did seem a little too direct for Erin to think of herself. Not to say she _couldn't _but it'd seem to be a last resort. Not a first resort.

"She got that from you?" Ash asked my grandpa, almost forgetting that he wouldn't be able to understand.

"Damn right," Gramps answered and our jaws hit the floor. What the fuck is going on? My grandparents barely knew my friends! How the– What the– Why the– I reiterate, what the fuck is going on! "Did I say something wrong?"

"Gramps... how can you understand them?" I questioned. Gramps looked at me with no small amount of confusion.

"I shouldn't be able to understand them?" He responded with a question.

"No, you shouldn't," Will and I replied.

"It's a miracle you understand Zero, but... to understand them... it's unreal," Erin said. "It took me five days to understand them because of their language."

"What language? They're speaking plain English."

"Infected language is the equivalent of moaning and groaning," Razor explained.

"Strange," Gramps mused. "It sounds like you're speaking plain English to me."

"Me too," Grammy agreed.

"That's insane," Gimpy said.

"So..." Ash continued. "You really taught Erin the whole, kiss and nab?" Gramps nodded. In no more than a second, Ash, Razor, and Gimpy fell to their knees and started bowing in front of Gramps.

"Teach us, o master!" They all shouted as they bowed. I slapped my hand over my face. The impact was so loud I was thankful that the forest worked as a natural buffer. I heard Sarah start giggling and looked toward her to see her holding her sides. Apparently she wanted to laugh a lot more but kept it suppressed enough for it to only be giggles.

"You think they'll ever learn?" Bear asked me.

"If they're learning from Gramps, I have little to no doubt they will. He's a harsh teacher." I spoke directly from experience. Gramps taught me all I needed to know about wooing the opposite sex. Since there were very few girls at Mercy City that weren't loose, I didn't have much to work with. Sadly, he never taught me to not be oblivious so it was pretty much for naught. I had barely noticed poor Erin for so long I wonder how she dealt with it. At least now I could put his teachings to use with dating.

"How harsh was he?" Bear asked. That's right, I never told him about how Gramps taught. Mainly because I can't remember.

"I'll tell you when I can remember," I replied. Bear seemed to accept that and nodded. Maybe it's just me but... did Bear get a little shorter? His arms definitely seemed less... veiny and obscurely large. In fact, they barely touched the ground anymore and his hunch was slowly vanishing. What in the world is going on?

I glanced over to Ash, Gimpy and Razor. I couldn't say anything about Razor, considering was as normal as I was. Ash, for some reason, looked a lot less sickly green. Gimpy... Gimpy was changing too. His smaller arm seemed to be growing and his larger arm seemed to be getting slightly smaller. I gaped at how much we were changing and we'd barely noticed it. I looked back at Sarah to see she still looked the same.

A lot had happened. A lot was unaccounted for. We were changing again. More-so than when we first became infected. Only this time, I couldn't fathom what was going on. Our language barrier seems to be evaporating into thin air. Maybe we'd never know. What I did know was that I had my grandparents back and, no matter what happened, I was happy.

* * *

**Me: And that'll do it for this chapter.**

**Zero: Gramps is back!**

**Will: Good to see he and Grammy are doing fine.**

**Bear: What the fuck is going on with us though?**

**Me: I won't tell, not yet anyway. Well, that'll do it for this week. Be good and be safe! I'm outta here!**


	22. A Nightmare or Prophecy?

**Me: Okay. Chapter 22 is done.**

**Zero: Not to be an ass here, but why didn't you update A Coin Toss to Change Destiny on Saturday?**

**Me: You're not. I'm having a little trouble with the site. Every time I try to update it I keep getting an error message. So, until that gets fixed I can't update it.**

**Zero: How long have you been getting that message?**

**Me: At this point... almost a week.**

**Rendan: Yikes.**

**Me: I know. It's annoying. Disclaimer time. I don't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected owned by Valve. All I own are the OCs, plot, and the Adaptor breed of infected. Now, read and enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 22: A Nightmare or Prophecy?

I awoke the next morning with a smile on my face. Everything was going great. I found my grandparents and even noticed the slight changes we were going through. Nothing I could have thought could have prepared me for what I saw when I looked around. When I saw everyone my jaw dropped. C-could it be? Bear was back to his old size. His veiny, giant arms were now back to normal. His hunch was completely gone. Sarah was actually able to sling her arms around him again.

Speaking of Sarah, her hair had returned to it's natural, dirty blonde color. Her long, claw-like fingers returned to normal size and shape. In short, they weren't claws anymore. I carefully opened her eyes to see they'd returned to her old, blue color. She was just like I remembered her before the infection... only her hair was still longer.

Glancing around, I saw Gimpy running around and cheering lowly. My guess was he didn't want anyone to wake up. He... he was normal again too! His arms returned to normal size. His eyes even changed from that awkward yellow back to brown. His own enlarged back was normal again too. How– how did this happen?

I looked for Ash next. He was the last of us that still had something of a different appearance, even if it was just the color of his skin and eyes. Ash stirred from his sleep and let out a loud yawn before opening his eyes. His eyes were brown again too! His skin had also returned to its natural shade! He looked down at himself before cheering loudly. Gimpy, in his ever present wisdom, charged into a nearby tree only to slam into the trunk with no other effect than to hurt himself.

I looked at my own hands. They were no longer claw-like. My skin had returned to it's normal tan-ish color when I was still alive. I was sure my eyes had turned back to their usual brown. The first time I looked in a mirror and saw my red eyes I was scared shitless. Was it possible? Was the cure only slowly coming? We... we were cured. Completely cured. If that's the case... then... then did the others in the city actually get cured too?

I heard Erin yawn, cutely as always, and watched her stir herself from, hopefully, another peaceful sleep. She rubbed her eyes and finally got a good look at her surroundings. I think my normal self must have had some sort of pheromone hanging around because the second she saw me she glomped me and tackled me to the floor. I didn't waste any time in hugging her back.

"Ladies man is still a ladies man," Ash said as he watched.

"Hey Zero, maybe you'll get lucky today!" Gimpy shouted. I responded with the very mature, and of course by that I mean completely _immature_, one fingered salute. Gimpy and Ash began chuckling.

"Laugh it up idiots, at least I have a girl!" I shouted at them. They looked at each other in shocked silence before chuckling again.

"Eh, we'll get a girl eventually," Ash said.

"I'm happy!" Bear shouted, apparently having finally woken up. "I got my girl." Sarah got 'playfully' annoyed and rapped him on the head. She was finally able to pull him down and kiss him. By the look on her face, that was bliss to her. By the look on Erin's face, she had the same idea. She grabbed me and pulled me into a kiss of her own. Short, sweet and fiery. Just right.

"Quit being a goof," Sarah scolded. Bear put on a mock pout and gave her his own 'puppy dog eyes'. Recently, she couldn't resist that damned look. She ended up hugging the life out of him.

"But it's so much fun!" Bear mock whined. The group began laughing.

"Zero, why didn't you make a move before?" Razor asked me. I looked toward him and tilted my head in confusion. That led to another glomp by Erin.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"You had your girlfriend literally tackle your ass to the ground and you did nothing!" Razor explained. I growled a little, giving Erin all the reason she needed to laugh. This was all well and good but where were my grandparents... not only that but where was Will?

"Bro!" Will's voice shouted from the side. He came running up to me as fast as he could. "We've got a problem!" One question that hit me was, why wasn't he freaking out about how I looked normal? That was too unnatural. He would at least comment or something.

"What's the problem?" I asked. Will dropped halfway to the ground and started breathing heavily.

"Group of infected heading this way," he breathed out. Just great, now there're infected coming this way and we have no way to fight them off! Will still had his Uzi and a shotgun but that was it. We of the formerly infected didn't have our abilities anymore and couldn't really fight back. There wasn't really anything we _could_ use either! The only option was to run. Run as far away as we could and as fast as we could muster. The clique turned and rushed in the opposite direction.

"What about Gramps and Grammy?" I asked as I ran. I was still fast but nowhere near how fast I was as an infected.

"They got away earlier," Will replied. That... didn't seem right. Gramps and Grammy wouldn't leave us to our doom like that. If they were going to move on, they would have woken us up as well.

A tongue lashed out of the foliage and grabbed me by my leg. It tripped me up and my face met the dirt before it started dragging me away. My brother turned with his Uzi and shot several times into the bushes. An explosion of green smoke and a tongue going limp later, I was able to jump to my feet and continue running.

To say the least I was more than a little confused. How the hell were we found so quickly? Did Will run into a few of them and lead them back? On the way here there was no sign of infected life save for us! Where the flying fuck did the infected come from? It seemed... too smart for them, ambushing like that. When we fought Smokey before, there was no real strategy. It was just kill or be killed. Hiding behind a short bush while you attacked seemed far too smart for these creatures. Hell, it still does!

Where the hell did these things get enough brain cells to figure out strategy? It wasn't right! The only way an infected could come up with strategy is if someone like we used to be gave them orders. Were– were there others like us that we knew nothing about? Will suddenly turned and unloaded his Uzi into another nearby bush and turned his fire into a tree.

"I'm out!" He cried seconds later before he pulled out his shotgun and started to fire into the tree as well. He stayed back while the rest of us kept running. What the hell was he thinking? Not too much longer another gunshot was heard followed by a body hitting the floor. He didn't– he didn't just shoot himself... did he?

"Keep running!" Bear shouted as we kept running. A Tank rushed out from nowhere and smashed into him. Bear was sent flying into a tree before the damn thing crushed his head. His blood splattered over us as we continued running. I don't know why but I couldn't stop moving. Sarah fell next when a Witch charged out of nowhere and brought her down with a single slash. The Witch sat poised and clawing at Sarah's prone, now violently bleeding, body. We would have gone back but the Tank stood defiantly in our way.

I stopped running for a second and looked back. That was it. The Tank literally just stood there and did nothing else. It was staring right at me, I know it was, but it didn't do anything more than stare.

"Zero! Come on!" Razor's voice shouted. I turned back around and rushed after everyone. Eventually I caught up with them and kept the pace. A Charger rushed from behind a few trees and plowed into Gimpy. The damned thing charged through and they both disappeared into the foliage. Goddammit! We were being picked off and couldn't do a fucking thing about it!

We stopped running and attempting to make our last stand. There seemed to be a pattern to all of this but maybe it was my imagination. Will basically killed himself... that's the only assumption I could make. Bear used to be a Tank and was killed by one. Sarah, once a Witch, was clawed to death by a Witch. Gimpy, a Charger, taken out by a Charger.

A tongue shot out from a tree and wrapped itself around Ash's neck before quickly pulling him away. Ash... once a Smoker, killed by a Smoker. This was becoming too fucking weird. If this kept up I was going to be killed by a Hunter, but I wasn't sure about Razor. He said that I created the Adaptor and he was the only one. What was going to kill him then?

My question was soon answered when a flying creature literally flew by, grabbed him, and flew away before dropping him over three hundred feet to the hard floor. Another Adaptor? Did he turn a few people before he snapped into his sanity? A Hunter's cry echoed across the area. At least one was close... very close. Erin and I were now the only one's left. I didn't care about my own fate at this point. All that mattered to me was that Erin was safe.

A Hunter launched himself from a shady spot as we ran. I pushed Erin out of the way again and was tackled by the Hunter. The thing started clawing at me and began to tear out my insides. The waves of pain I began to feel was unreal. All I knew now was pain. The Hunter stared at me with bloodthirsty eyes as it clawed. I managed to look to the side to see Erin still running. Good. Let her get away. My vision started to fade into white until–

"YAAAAAAAAH!" I cried as I shot up. I patted myself down to see I was still intact. Well, my body was. I couldn't say the same for my mind right now. I stood up and shook my head. I was alive, that much I was sure of. I looked down at my claw-like hands. I was still a hunter. Being normal again was just a dream. I was silently thankful for that. At least I could fight back against the infected on equal grounds. I reached to my head and wiped the sweat off my brow. Figures I'd wake up in a cold sweat.

I started breathing heavily to help calm myself down. I kept my head in my right hand as I kept breathing. I looked up and saw it was still night. Thankfully it was night. Night was always much more comforting to me.

"Bro, you okay?" Will asked. He apparently heard me yell and woke up because of it.

"I'm fine... I'll be fine," I answered between breaths.

"What happened?" He questioned.

"Just– just a nightmare," I replied. I _hope_ it was a nightmare. At the rate we were changing made me wonder if that dream was truly a possibility of what could really happen. I was scared... no, I was _terrified_ of what could happen. Seeing everyone die like that... it was something I'd never forget.

"Everything will be fine," Will tried to reassure me. He placed a comforting hand on my back to try and help calm my down. My breathing eventually slowed to a normal rate and I managed to calm myself down.

"I hope you're right, Will," I said. "I really do. Go back to sleep, I'll be fine." Will looked at me for a moment before he nodded. He walked off and went back to sleep. Not much later I walked back to my spot by Erin but I couldn't sleep. I wasn't going to be able to sleep.

"Mmm... Zero?" Erin's voice asked. I looked down at her and saw she was looking up at me, confused. "Is everything okay?"

"No," I responded. I don't know why I told her differently than my brother but I did. "I had a hell of a nightmare and... well... I'm scared."

"About what?" She questioned as she got up and sat next to me.

"We're changing again," I told her. She looked at me, only slightly confused. "What are we changing into? We seem to be turning back to normal but, if we do, we'll be vulnerable again. We don't have the equipment to protect ten normals; ten including Grammy and Gramps. Four, maybe, but not ten. We were ambushed by infected. I don't know what happened to you but the rest of us were killed."

"It was just a dream," She reassured me.

"Was it?" I asked. "I felt every cut that went into my body. It's possible to say the very least. If we do return to normal, we won't be able to fight the infected on our own. What are we supposed to do?" Erin wrapped her arms around me and kissed my cheek.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," she stated. "Since we're up, is there anything you want to talk about?" I looked up at the night sky before sighing one last time.

"Yeah, there is."

* * *

**Me: And that's the chapter.**

**Erin: Leading right into a talk between me and Zero?**

**Me: Yep.**

**Zero: Talk about a weird dream though.**

**Me: But was that all it was? It could have been a warning of things to come.**

**Zero: I really, REALLY hope it's not that.**

**Erin: No more than me. Or any of us for that matter.**

**Me: Well, that'll do it for this week. Be good and be safe everyone! I'm outta here! **


	23. A Bridge in Understanding

**Me: And there's Chapter 23.**

**Zero: Now we gotta see what exactly is going to happen.**

**Rendan: This should be good.**

**Me: Perhaps, but I want to get this one done. Who wants the disclaimer?**

**Rendan: I've got it.**

**Zero: Hell no you don't!**

**Rendan: Azard doesn't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected owned by...**

**Zero: Don't do it!**

**Rendan: Valve. All he owns are the OCs, plot and the Adaptor breed of infected.**

**Me: Thought he'd fuck up purposely didn't you, Zero?**

**Zero: Shut up.**

**Me: Read and enjoy. **

* * *

Chapter 23: A Bridge in Understanding

I kept staring at the night sky for a while. To be honest, I wasn't exactly sure how I wanted to word what I needed to ask or say what I wanted to talk about. It was like being at a funeral of a friend and not knowing what to say to the grieving family. Sure, in reality, it was nowhere near like that but the feeling of not knowing what to say was there. I wasn't sure of anything at the moment. I wasn't sure of my feelings, I wasn't sure of what I needed to do, I wasn't even sure why I was going to talk to her about this.

Maybe this is my mind's or, even more corny, my heart's way of saying 'It's time'. I don't know. Right now, though, I've gotta talk about it. My fears, my insecurities and whatever else is bugging me won't resolve itself unless I act. Erin hadn't taken her eyes off of me yet. I can understand why, though. She was worried about me. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the group was by this point. I was happy with things right now, that much was obvious but... there was still something off.

"What do you want to talk about, Zero?" Erin asked me. I let out a soft sigh. This was going to be a long night.

"What do you think of us?" I responded with a question.

"Huh?" She _intelligently_ implied with a cute, puzzled look.

"The clique," I continued. "We're all infected now. Doesn't that bother you?" Erin shook her head. "Why not?"

"It's clear that you all know who you are," Erin said. "You're all aware of what's really going on and aren't killing without reason. You all understand the difference between humanity and complete savagery and choose the former. There's no real reason for me to be bothered by what you've become if you're not a threat to innocent people." I blinked. While that response was welcome, in fact it was the response I wanted, it wasn't one that I expected. Come to think of it... What the hell kind of response _was_ I expecting? Great... I'm losing my mind... _again_!

"Traveling with infected has become a hell of a blessing huh?" I joked. Erin giggled.

"It has its perks," she jokingly admitted. "And the unlimited stamina you guys have has its perks too." I felt as if my face was set on fire. I looked straight at her with whatever expression my face contorted itself into. Hell, I wasn't even sure what expression was showing. She took one good look at me and flushed red herself. Apparently, she figured out what went through my mind. "I mean that you can travel for a long time without getting tired!" She stammered out, waving her hands in front of her face.

All that just proved was that I was becoming a goddamn pervert. She mentions something about stamina and I _immediately_ think of something sexual. Mother fucker! Not only am I losing my mind to insecurity, I'm also losing it to my fucking _libido_! Maybe, just maybe, being an infected so long is making me think on my baser instincts? Though, that would imply that I'm just dreaming of sex, _not _the ridiculously kinky shit I've been dreaming of lately. So... great. I'm a fucking pervert. And no! I'm not telling you what I've been dreaming of lately! Jeez! And I thought _I _was the pervert. There's just some shit I won't say.

"Yeah, that's was I was thinking about too," I lied. Erin playfully punched my shoulder.

"Right," she played along, "and I'm the Queen of Italy." I chuckled. That game always worked.

"So what do you think of the group?" I questioned.

"Time for juicy gossip, I take it?" Erin responded with her own question.

"I've got this nefarious scheme where I'll tell the group what you think of them behind their backs, thereby allowing me to do whatever I please with you without their interference. Bwahahahhaha!" Erin gave me a somewhat playful look. She leaned in close to me.

"But if you wanted to be naughty," she whispered sensually, "you only had to ask." That did it. Everything went black for a few seconds. My whole body was thrown into a volcano! That's the only explanation for the amount of heat I was feeling! Erin almost started laughing out loud at my reaction, especially since when I opened my eyes again I was apparently on the floor. I wiped my nose for a reason unknown to me and found blood. Blood? I thought that shit only happened on TV or in Anime!

"Umm, yes, well, I..." I started stammering before Erin cut me off, thankfully, before I further embarrassed myself.

"Let's see then, the question was, 'What do I think of the others' right?" She asked. I nodded. I didn't trust my mouth right now. Knowing me, I'd say something stupid. It wasn't a guess at this point, it was a guarantee. "Well," she leaned in close again, "you know what I think of you." I was sure my face was redder than a fucking cherry at this point. "Well, you're brother's nice. I mean, he's technically the first person to help me."

"I did see you traveling with him and his group first," I said. She nodded.

"Ash, well, he seems to be the most understanding of the group," Erin continued. "He told me a while ago that he's the one who told you how everything happened. He's been sane the longest so he'd have the best understanding of the situation." I nodded. "Gimpy is... well... Gimpy. I really don't know what to say about him. He makes pervy jokes with the rest of you but when it comes down to it, he's really a nice guy."

"I wouldn't be friends with him if he wasn't. Remember, I stayed _away_ from the assholes back in Mercy City," I stated.

"Razor is just a giant goofball, along with Bear. The difference is that while Bear can be sweet when he's around Sarah, Razor's just unpredictable twenty-four seven. I mean, one time when you were sleeping, he comes in with a bucket of water before dumping some on Sarah and me before yelling 'Wet T-Shirt fight!' It was just so random."

"Was there a fight?" I asked. I had to know. Damn hormones.

"There was," Erin admitted, "but it was just Sarah and me punching the living hell out him." I chuckled. "Sarah's just a sweetheart. She can fight when it comes time to but normally she's very kind."

"Reminds me of you," I said. "Besides giving a pervert one of the most painful nut shots I've ever seen, you've always been one of the nicest people I've known."

"Wasn't really enough to get you to notice me though, was it?" She asked.

"Oblivious," was my only response. She giggled again.

"That's an understatement," Erin joked. I chuckled. She was right. Calling me oblivious to love was a _massive_ understatement. Hell, I couldn't even tell when a girl was obviously flirting with me.

"Why did you like me anyway?" I asked. Erin gave me a confused look. "Well, aside from being on the football team, nobody really knew all that much about me."

"Are you kidding me?" Erin replied. "Everyone knew of the stuff you and that group of yours would do. You guys successfully changed the motto of the school's teams in the course of a night. Not to mention you doing more good for the city than even the _police_ did." I stared at her with no small amount of shock. "Everyone knew about you guys doing that stuff. You being arrested two years ago spread like wildfire. People started talking about what you might have done."

"I wonder how many of them got it right."

"All of them." I stared at her again. "They all said you must have finally killed someone."

"Finally?"

"They all thought you'd do something like that eventually but only if it was called for. They knew you weren't a thief or a hooligan, so murder, to them, was kinda the only option." I blinked and looked at the sky. Could figuring everything out really have been that simple?

"That still doesn't answer my question," I said after I finally came to.

"Why did I like you? Easy. You were kind, intelligent, always acted on what you thought was right and had a good sense of humor. Being cute, a football star, strong and athletic was really just a bonus," Erin answered with a smile. "That and I love running my fingers through your hair. It's so much fun to play with!" She began running her fingers through my long, black hair. It wasn't just fun for her. It felt good as hell to me.

"Where do you see this relationship going?" I asked. Erin stopped playing with my hair and took on a thoughtful expression.

"I suppose it'll have to go somewhere eventually," Erin mused.

"Yes, but where, or how far?" I continued. "Doesn't it bother you that your boyfriend is technically a hunter?"

"Not really," she admitted. "Should it?"

"Well, technically I'm dead," I pointed out. She suddenly planted her head to my chest and rested it where my heart was. After a few seconds, she smiled and placed my hand where my heart was. My mind almost shut down at what I felt. My heart... beating. _My heartbeat!_ I... I was alive.

"You're not dead," Erin said. "You're more alive now than you ever were before." She grabbed me and pulled me into another kiss. This time, our lips moved and flowed as one. If there was one thing I was aware of at this point it's what I was feeling. Besides the rising heat in by body, I felt the passion of the embrace and the kiss. Slowly, the kiss became more and more passionate until I had fallen on top of her and continued kissing.

I eventually left her lips and trailed the kisses down the crook of her neck, getting soft moans from her as I was doing it. There was very little doubt, I was getting turned on and by the sound of those moans, she was too. I was about to go a little further south until I heard... snickering? I stopped kissing her and sat up, much to Erin's evident disappointment.

"Alright assholes, you can stop pretending to be asleep! I know you're all awake!" I shouted. Total moment killer.

"Goddamn it, Gimpy!" Bear bellowed. "They were almost there!"

"Dude! Why couldn't you keep your fucking mouth shut?" Ash yelled.

"It's not my fault! He was always saying he'd never get a chick, so seeing him at this point now is fucking hilarious!" Sarah stood up and whacked Gimpy on the back of his head.

"Jerk! Why did you have to do that? It was almost like a romance movie! You should've left them alone," Sarah reprimanded. She turned around and I could swear there were little stars in her eyes. "It's just so romantic. The two lovers have their own heart to heart only to become closer in the process which leads to..." Sarah let out a perverted giggle.

What the fuck? Was _everyone _expecting that to happen? Seriously! Don't they have anything better to do with their fucking time?

"Sorry bro," Razor said. I sighed heavily.

"You guys ever do that again and I'll gut you like fish!" I shouted.

"Gotcha!" Ash replied. "Now, everyone, back to sleep!" Everyone dropped like flies and began snoring.

"Too late for that assholes! The moment's dead!" I sighed heavily again. I walked back over to my spot and laid down. Erin, like always, laid next to me. We soon fell asleep in each other's arms. The way it was supposed to be.

* * *

**Me: And that's the end of that chapter.**

**Zero: Fucking perverts.**

**Razor: That was fucking awesome.**

**Rendan: Breaking the fourth wall a bit there, aren't you?**

**Zero: Shut it.**

**Me: Also, that whole "Nefarious plot" bit is a rehash of a convo with Alistair from Dragon Age, which I obviously don't own. Shit, if I did, it'd be more hack-n-slash/RPG instead of push button once, attacks automatically. I like combos dammit!**

**Rendan: Why do I feel there's a pun somewhere in there?**

**Me: Got me. Anyway, that'll do it for this week. Be good and be safe everyone! I'm outta here!**


	24. Resupply

**Me: Time for Chapter 24.**

**Rendan: Interesting. First the fear is exploited now the remedy is in effect.**

**Zero: I just hope we can get through this in one piece.**

**Will: Why shouldn't we? It's just a damn resupply mission. It's not like all hell is going to break loose.**

**Me: Blarg. Anyway, who wants the disclaimer this time?**

**-crickets chirp-**

**Zero: Did you purposely do that for the gag?**

**Me: Yep. I'm corny like that. Anyway, I don't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected owned by Valve. The only things I own are the OCs, plot and the Adaptor breed of infected.**

**Rendan: This should get good.**

**Me: Read and enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 24: Resupply

I awoke to someone gently nudging me in the arm. When I opened my eyes I saw Will standing over me. After a short stretch and groan I stood up and stared at my brother. Grammy and Gramps were behind him and looked ready to travel.

"What's going on?" I asked. Will flashed a smile.

"We're going to resupply," Will said. "We're going to need some extra hands to help move the supplies so you and Razor are coming with us since you look the most normal. Bear will meet us on the way back to help carry the gear since he's the strongest."

"That's all well and good," I began, "but how the hell are we supposed to resupply when we're in the middle of the fucking forest?"

"Watch your mouth!" Grammy scolded me. I scratched my neck nervously.

"There's a human encampment about ten miles west of here," Gramps informed. "We go once a week to resupply. With you guys there we may be able to get enough supplies to last a month or so." I was honestly surprised they could carry enough supplies for a week. Then again, I remember someone calling my Grammy a 'tough old bird' and my Gramps was stronger than an ox.

"Okay, so let's go then," I suggested.

"We have to wait for Razor," Will stated.

"Where the hell is he?" I asked.

"He's flying around looking for any hostiles."

"By hostiles, I assume you mean infected."

"You assume correctly." Moments later Razor flew through an opening in the trees and landed in front of Will.

"Nothing to report," Razor reported in military fashion. "Area is clear of all threats and the road to the encampment is clean." Razor finished this by saluting my brother.

"Excellent," Will said, returning the salute. Not much later we began walking to the encampment. I made sure to kiss Erin's forehead before we left. When we arrived a few hours later, I was caught slightly off guard when I first laid eyes on the camp. I admit, I expected it to be purely civilian with a few armed civilians serving as watchmen.

What I saw was a fairly strong _military_ force serving as a pseudo police force. The encampment itself wasn't even an encampment. I expected a few tents, maybe one building. The 'encampment' looked like a fucking _military base_! High, solid, concrete walls. Razor wire lining the tops of the walls.

There were watchtowers at every corner of the base and even a few more along the walls. The walls alone must have been at least a mile long and a mile wide. In short, this was a pretty big base. Well, the biggest I've ever seen... and the first.

We walked through the gates to be patted down by a few of the guards. After finding nothing on us, they waved us through. There were several guards pointing assault rifles at us during the search and hoisted their weapons once we were waved through. They were the epitome of professional.

"What business do you have here?" A guard carrying a clipboard asked when he approached.

"We're resupplying," Gramps answered.

"What'll you need?"

"A few weapons, some ammunition, some food and water," Gramps listed our needs.

"Okay, third building near the back on your left has your food and water. Weaponry is the closest here to the exit for obvious reasons. Once you have the weapons in your possession you'll be escorted out." The guard walked away without another word.

"Hmm," Gramps hmm-ed to himself. "Okay, I've got it. Will, you come with us and help with the food. Razor, you and Zero meet us up here in about an hour or so and we'll get the weapons we need."

"Got it," Razor and I said. I quickly glanced around to look for any guards that may have become suspicious. Nothing. The closest guard to us hadn't even turned his head. It was official, we could speak human again. As Will and my grandparents walked away, I found it necessary to explore the area. Razor tagged along, if only for the fact that he was going to be bored otherwise. We walked for a while before something stopped us.

"Zero? Is that you, kid?" A vaguely familiar voice called. I turned around to see three people I hadn't seen since Mercy City. Patrick, Jessica and Adam. I chuckled at the stupid little fact that I now knew two Patricks. I waved to them to say hello. They responded by rushing over and nearly tackling me. Finally I had some luck and they stopped just in front of me. The only one that walked was Jess.

"Take it easy, Adam," Jess said with more than a hint of surprise in her voice. No doubt she was confused as to what a Hunter, let alone a _sane _one, was doing here. She hesitated a bit, almost wondering if she should ask. Fortunately, or unfortunately as she probably saw it, Patrick beat her to the punch.

"What brings you here?" He asked.

"I'm here with my grandparents to resupply. We're going to need some weapons and basic necessities," I answered, no longer needing to worry about the speech issue. Jessica's mouth dropped. I turned to her to straighten things out. Even if she knew I was a Hunter, she'd at least buy this until I can properly explain. Problem is I didn't know if I could. "I lost my voice when we first met up, that's why I didn't speak. It was so hoarse and raspy you'd swear I was moaning instead of talking."

"Makes sense," Adam stated after a moment of silence, as if he'd been pondering the truthfulness of the statement.

"So how've things been going for ya?" Patrick asked.

"It's had its ups and downs. I've had to kill a few things."

"Infected?"

"Mostly. I had to kill a pervert not too long ago."

"Hope he deserved it," Jess said threateningly.

"He came where my friends and I were staying fully intent on raping one of female friends. You tell me." Jess visibly calmed down.

"He did," she admitted. I would've bet if she'd been there, she would've unleashed some... what the fuck did women call it... oh right, Righteous Female Fury on that pervert. Whatever she would've done, it would've been hilarious. Well, to me it would have been. To him it would've been painful.

"Always have to protect your friends," I stated as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. It kinda was and still is.

"Good work," Patrick praised me. "What'd ya do to him?"

"Ripped his throat out before cutting his limbs off and burying him in a twelve foot hole."

"Twenty," Razor corrected. I looked at him.

"You dug a twenty foot hole?" I questioned.

"Damn right. He's eight feet closer to Hell."

"That's one way to do it I guess," Adam said.

"Maybe you should get out of here soon," Jessica suggested.

"Why?" I asked.

"Let's just say there are a few people here you probably won't want to meet."

"Why not?" Razor questioned.

"It's... Zero's parents," Jess explained. I stiffened when I heard that. She was right, of course, but there was another problem that was presented before us. Of all people, besides the clique and my brother, the first people to know I died were my parents. They'd expose me in a millisecond if they saw me. How the fuck was I supposed to know they'd be here? Better question, how do I get out without them seeing me?

"You're right. I don't want to meet them," I said. Razor knew of my home life. All the love that came from that family came from my grandparents. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if my parents called me a mistake.

"How long until your grandparents get back?" Razor asked.

"About an hour," I replied. We hadn't been talking very long anyway, so the possibility of getting caught was rather high.

"Where are you supposed to meet them?" Adam inquired.

"We were supposed to meet them in front of the weapons warehouse."

"You have nothing to worry about then," Patrick said. I shot him a confused glance.

"They never come this far up," Adam elaborated. "They always stay by the food section."

"Then Will might meet up with them," I intoned lowly. Will disliked them almost as much as I did. Honestly, I don't remember the exact date he stopped caring for them.

"What will that accomplish for them though?" Razor asked. He did have a point. Will was alive after the infection took place. I wasn't. They couldn't say anything to him that would blow our cover. I was thankful for that.

"Absolutely nothing," Jessica answered for me. "Still, we'll keep an eye out for them so you can get out safely."

"Thanks Jess," I thanked her. She gave me a warm smile, far warmer and motherly than any smile I got from my actual mother.

"Anytime," she replied. Razor and I hung around them for a while, talking about life and what we intended to do with ours... or afterlife in our case. Wait... was that the case? I mean, I felt my fucking _heartbeat _last night! Ugh, this is aggravating as hell. At the hour mark we met back up with Gramps, Grammy and Will before we went into the warehouse.

Gramps picked up a sniper rifle and enough ammo for a few weeks. Grammy, help her soul, picked a pistol. Will was the most organized, finally picking out a better shotgun, an AK47 and even picked similar weapons for the group. I know he did that because of my dream. He was up with the rest of them and probably heard me talking about it. Obviously he thought the risk was too high too.

After about an hour of selecting and testing, we walked out and headed for the gate. We were about to exit the compound and head home but were stopped and had our weapons checked out. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until just before we walked out the gate.

"Zero? Will?" Oh shit...

* * *

**Me: And there's chapter 24.**

**Zero: What was that about hell not breaking loose, Will?**

**Will: Don't fucking blame me! Besides, it may be a friendly person.**

**Zero: Will, use your fucking brain! Goddammit I don't need this shit right now!**

**Rendan: He's pissed.**

**Me: You would be too.**

**Rendan: Yep.**

**Me: I think that'll do it for this week. Be good and be safe everyone. I'm outta here!**


	25. Murphy's Law & Will's Hatred

**Me: And Chapter 25 is done!**

**Zero: Now we'll see what the fuck happened before.**

**Rendan: I don't know, I think it's kinda obvious what happened.**

**Gimpy: You would.**

**Rendan: What? You couldn't figure it out? You're reading this too!**

**Gimpy: Sh-shut up.**

**Me: -sigh- Anyway, who want's the disclaimer this time around?**

**Bear: I got it. Azard doesn't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected owned by Valve. All he owns is the characters, plot and the Adaptor breed of infected.**

**Me: Thanks, Bear. Anyway, read and enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 25: Murphy's Law & Will's Hatred

I froze in my spot. The chills that were currently traveling through my spine had me trembling in place. Fucking Hell! Why the fuck couldn't I have kept my damn mouth shut? It never. Ever. Fucking. Fails. Gramps and Grammy had turned and stood in front of us. Obviously they weren't too fond of their son-in-law and daughter's actions and attitudes towards the two of us. Oh right, I forgot to mention, my fucking parents found us.

"What do you want, Megan, Charles?" Gramps asked in a harsh tone. It's been a while since I heard him speak in that tone of voice. A _really_ long time.

"Can't a mother greet her two children?" Mom asked. Ugh, I hated and still hate calling that woman 'Mom'. It's not like she really _was _a mom anyway.

"Bullshit," I intoned lowly. "Most likely they want to expose us and have us killed. Less mouths to feed after all."

"Dude," Razor began, "did I ever tell you that your view of your parents is kinda fucked up?"

"It's totally called for," Will said, shocking Razor in the process. It was no secret that during life I took on the role of bashing my parent's attitudes and actions in public. Back then, Will was the more quiet and collected one and would only talk about the shit they did to me. In short, he gave me fuel for the eternal fire we'd roast our parents on someday.

"Ya'know Will," Razor started, "I'm kinda surprised by you. You've never said anything bad about your parents before. Why start now?"

"I've never said anything because Zero always spoke for me," Will answered. Razor looked toward me and I nodded my confirmation.

"It's true," I felt the need to say. "Will would sometimes talk to me about them and I'd rant about it the next day." At this, Razor seemed to assume a thoughtful pose and glanced toward the sky.

"That _would_ explain your extra long rants on certain days," Razor mused. I wanted to let out a chuckle, I did, but I couldn't let my parents see it. I couldn't show any type of weakness to them. I had to remain cold and goddammit I was going to.

"So we've made mistakes in our past," Dad began, I hate calling him 'Dad' too. "Why can't we make up for it now?" Apparently they've been talking while we've been reminiscing. Wait, do they seriously think that they can make up for their mistakes _now_? For _eighteen fucking years_ they've been nothing short of distant, and _now_ they want to fix that? What the fuck is wrong with these people?

"I think they're full of shit," Will said.

"What was your first clue?" I asked.

"Didn't need one," Will replied. "You and I _both_ know how they are. Just by them being them I know they're full of shit." Razor was watching us banter with wide eyes.

"You guys seriously talk a lot of shit about them," Razor stated.

"It's not like we're doing it without reason," I retorted.

"I'm aware of your reasons, Zero, but what are Will's reasons?" Razor questioned.

"I'll tell you when we get back to camp," Will said.

"You better. Other than Zero I've never seen a sixteen year old with so much anger in him, especially toward his own family."

"What about Sarah?" I asked.

"That's different," Razor said. "After you got arrested, Bear told us everything and we completely understood why she hated her Dad. We understand why you hate them but not your brother."

"I told you," Will began, "I'll tell you if and when we get back to camp."

"If?"

"If Mom and Dad," Will spat as he said that, "have their way we'll be dead in the next five minutes.

"I say we let the kids decide," Grammy said. Decide? Decide what? What'd we miss this time? Grammy turned to us. "Tell us boys, do you want to spend some time with your parents?" Will and I turned toward each other before slapping ourselves in the face, just to make sure we weren't going crazy. "Do you?" Will turned to me and I nodded, knowing what he was thinking. We counted down, 3. 2. 1...

"Hell no!" We both shouted. From that moment on, it was clear to them, at least I hope it was, that we had no intention of giving them a second chance... or a hundredth chance in this case. They didn't seem saddened by our decision nor did they seem hurt or caring about it. Figures.

"Then we'll be on our way," Gramps said. Suddenly, Mom spoke up.

"Are you really going to walk out of here with an infected?" She asked sending the entire base on alert. Several guards pointed their guns at us as we held our hands up in surrender. Fucking figures.

"I take it back," Razor stated. "I totally understand why you hate these pricks." Thankfully, one of the other guards said something that had everyone relaxing.

"There's no infected here," he calmly said. "Infected creatures can't speak English and we've clearly heard them all speak at one point or another." The guards looked at each other and nodded in silent confirmation. The guard who spoke turned to my parents. "That's one strike against you, do that again we're not liable if you have an _accident_." We smiled at our parent's defeated expressions.

"Well, then," Gramps began, "if that's all, we'll be going." The guards nodded and let us through the gate. We met up with Bear once we hit the forest and he carried a good amount of the supplies to help us out. I don't know about Will but I was breathing heavily. That was way too fucking close. Damn Murphy's Law.

"So what happened that made you guys late?" Bear asked as we continued walking.

"We had a run in with our life givers," I replied. Bear nodded in understanding.

"That'd be enough to get me freaking out too," Bear said. "Did they try anything?"

"Only tried to get us killed," Will answered for me. Bear let out a growl of rage. He was one of the people I confided in most about my parents.

"They've done low things before, but that takes the shit cake." We nodded in agreement. From there on, we basically went the rest of the way in silence. We managed to make it back to the house by nightfall. We made a small fire and sat around it. It was a while before anyone spoke.

"So are you going to tell us, Will?" Razor asked.

"You still want to know?" Will responded with a question.

"Yeah," Razor replied. Will took a deep breath. There was very little doubt this was going to be a painful memory. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested as well. I never knew exactly why Will stopped caring for Mom and Dad.

"Well, this happened back when I was ten," Will began. Six years. Wow, that's going back a ways. At least to us it seems that way. "I had gotten up in the middle of the night for a glass of water. I walked by the living room and heard _them_ talking."

"What were they saying?" Gimpy asked.

"They were discussing finances. They were complaining that they didn't have as much money as they would have preferred... then Mom said, 'We'd have more money if it wasn't for them'."

"Wait," Ash interrupted. "Them could be people at work or people in their neighborhood. It doesn't immediately apply to you."

"I know, that wasn't the part that impacted me. I thought the exact same thing at first. Then Dad said, 'Both those kids are mistakes.' At that point I knew she was talking about us." _Mistakes_. Was that all we were to them? It made sense. "Then Mom said, 'We never should have had them. I should have aborted them.' After that, I lost whatever hope I had in them. It was bad enough they hated us and called us mistakes, but to wish they had killed us before we were even born?" Will stopped and slipped his head into his arms.

"That's really fucking low," Sarah said. "Can you believe it, Zero?" I didn't reply. "Zero?" Sad thing is, I _could _believe it. My parents were willing to kill me before I was even born. Did we really fuck up their lives that badly? I didn't care anymore. I was _glad_ we fucked up their lives after learning that. Even _I_ hadn't heard them say that!

"I'm glad," I began, drawing the attention of the clique, "that we fucked up whatever hopes they had for their lives. If that's the way they talk about their own children, they don't deserve to be happy."

"All agreed?" Will asked.

"Aye!" Shouted the entire group.

"I still can't believe our daughter turned out so badly," Gramps said, his voice full of remorse. "We raised her the same way we raised Zero and Will here, and they turned out great. Why did she end up so bad?"

"Every family has a bad seed," Erin spoke up. "You did nothing wrong. If you're the ones who raised Zero, then you're responsible for raising two of the biggest heroes Mercy City has ever seen."

"Heroes?" Gramps asked with a chuckle.

"Will and Zero, along with us, would do things the _police_ should have been doing," Ash explained. "We kept the city safer than the police ever did. Some people started calling us vigilantes and heroes."

"At least I know we did something right," Grammy said as a tear fell from her eye. She was still hurting because her daughter turned out so poorly.

"You were my real parents," I stated as I hugged Grammy tightly. Will joined me and hugged her too.

"You taught us, cared for us, fed us, and kept a roof over our heads. You are our family, not them," Will continued. Grammy hugged us back. It wasn't long before a group hug broke out. When it ended, we put out the fire and headed to our spots for the night.

"Why would your parents call you and Will mistakes?" Erin asked.

"I don't think I'll ever know for sure," I replied. "As long as I can hazard a guess, I'll simply guess that they were good for nothing shit heads." Erin giggled.

"Well, it's time to get some rest."

"Yeah, I'm tired," I yawned out. Wait, yawned? And I'm tired? Okay... there really is something going on. I'm not exactly sure why, but I'm glad I became a Hunter. I think it's because I can protect people better like this. People couldn't get away from me before but now they didn't stand a snowball's chance in Hell of even keeping the chase interesting.

The thought of turning normal again... I'm starting to dislike it. Maybe I've gotten so used to being a Hunter that I really can't remember how life used to be when I wasn't. I'm stronger now, faster and for some reason my senses are much more acute. It's almost like I'm a superhuman... err super infected. Well, whatever it was, it'd have to wait. I laid down in my spot with Erin next to me and slowly drifted into sleep.

* * *

**Me: And that's the chapter.**

**Rendan: Zero, you're seriously starting to hate the idea of being human again?**

**Zero: As painful as it is to admit, I am. I'm stronger and more capable now. If I revert and can't protect someone... -glances toward Erin then the rest of the clique- I'd never forgive myself.**

**Gimpy: That explains a lot.**

**Ash: It certainly does.**

**Me: That'll do it for this week. Be good and be safe everyone! I'm outta here!**


	26. Plan for the Future

**Me: And Chapter 26 is done.**

**Zero: Let's see where this leads.**

**Gimpy: I'm sure it'll go somewhere.**

**Me: Anyone want the disclaimer this time?**

**Erin: I've got it. Azard doesn't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected owned by Valve. All he owns are the characters, plot and the Adaptor breed of infected.**

**Me: Thanks Erin. Now, read and enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 26: Plan for the Future

Morning came rather quickly for me, which I was silently thankful for. It always meant I had a peaceful rest. Rest... I'm not ready for that just yet. We've got to get everyone to a fully safe place before that happens. I stretched my arms as I rose and carefully eased myself out of Erin's grip. I looked around to see everyone else, minus Grammy and Gramps, awake and at a breakfast fire. I walked over and sat between Bear and Ash.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Sarah greeted. I smiled.

"Morning," I replied as I rubbed my eyes.

"You've been sleeping a lot lately," Bear said. "Something up?"

"No, I've just been tired," I responded.

"Tired?" Ash asked. I guess he didn't feel tired just yet. "That's... strange."

"Yeah," Gimpy chimed in. "You really shouldn't be tired."

"That's not why it's strange," Ash clarified. Everyone looked at him. "It's strange because you shouldn't be getting tired just yet."

"What do you mean?" I questioned.

"Well, in the week I was a mindless infected, you were attacked on the last day, so whatever happens to me would happen to you a week later. What's strange is that you're already feeling tired and I only just started feeling that way two days ago." So he _has_ been getting fatigued.

"I was afraid of that," I intoned. Everyone now looked at me. I relayed my dream the other night to them, every gruesome detail. I recalled how everyone, except Will, who I believe took his own life, Grammy and Gramps, who were gone by that time, and Erin, as she got away, were murdered violently by the very creatures we became, all after we'd returned to normal. We didn't have a chance in hell of survival.

"That's... troubling," Razor said. "So we may very well be turning back into humans?"

"It's possible," Ash replied. "I've noticed we've been changing again. This time, though, I don't know to what end. Bear's been getting smaller and is starting to look more like a human again. I'm turning back to a human's normal skin color. Sarah's starting to get her muscle tone back and is not as pale. Gimpy's small arm is growing and his big arm is shrinking. Razor is... well Razor, there's been no real change in him from day one," Razor grinned, "and Zero's gotten his old skin tone back."

"You think we're becoming human again?" Bear asked.

"It's very possible at this point," Ash continued.

"So we're going to lose all this awesome power?" Gimpy questioned with no small amount of shock and worry.

"If what Ash is saying is true," Razor began, "it's more than likely. We're reverting back to how we were before the infection hit. It would also explain Zero's uncontrollable hormones."

"Fuck you, Razor!" I shouted with a red face. "I've been controlling myself just fine!"

"Not according to what you're saying in your sleep." I was sure my face flushed redder. If I was saying out loud what was going on in my dreams I was sure I was going to die of embarrassment. Either that or I'd die in the ensuing congratulatory hug.

"Anyway," Ash interrupted, "if this is indeed what is happening all of our abilities are going away forever and we'll be weak again." This is what it's come to. We now refer to humans as weak.

"How did this happen though?" Sarah asked.

"I have a theory. Perhaps when I was experimented on, what was put in my body was a very slowly acting cure. When I attacked Zero, I passed it on to him, along with my infection, as he passed it on to all of you. So we've been slowly recovering after our change from day one."

"So you not only spread the infection, but the cure as well?" Gimpy inquired.

"That seems to be the most likely explanation," I said. "How else could you explain our humanity? Our fatigue? Our emotions? Our common sense?"

"Great," Bear groaned. "Now what?"

"Now I think we should find another home," I stated.

"Why?" The group, minus Ash, shouted.

"This place is nice!" Razor yelled.

"It's peaceful!" Sarah shouted.

"It's safe!" Bear bellowed.

"For how long?" I asked. That shut everybody up. They glanced around at the scenery and then back to me. "This place is nice, peaceful and safe but for how much longer? Being in a forest we certainly have a few vantage points but there are some weaknesses too."

"Like what?" Gimpy questioned.

"For example," I began, "any ambush point that we can use against the infected they can also use on us. Our ambush could be ambushed by bloodthirsty infected."

"To top that off," Ash started, "everywhere in this place is a hiding spot."

"Any nook, any cranny, any shadowy spot and any rock could be a potential hiding spot not only for us, but for them. One false step and we're all as good as dead."

"So where the hell are we supposed to go then?" Bear asked.

"The most ideal place is one with good cover, one entrance and a secret exit that only we could use," Ash explained.

"Either that or we build a goddamn fort," I added. Ash nodded.

"The only other option for now is to wait until we're all normal again and then go join up with the humans, considering they always have a military presence protecting the remaining population."

"I'd rather not do that," I said.

"Understandable," Razor stated. "After all, we did meet up with his shit head parents."

"Chances are we'd meet up with them eventually. I really don't want to deal with them," Will intoned lowly.

"None of us want to deal with our families or the remnants of ours," Razor elaborated. "But, if we must deal with humans to survive we'll have to bear it."

"Sadly," I mumbled.

"So what's the plan?" Bear asked.

"Well, I'm not too sure," I said. I turned to Ash who was in a thoughtful pose.

"I think we'd have to wait until we're fully cured then look for people. We'll have to keep moving until that happens." Fuck, I was afraid of that.

"So where are we going to live?" Sarah questioned. "We can't keep moving forever, especially if we're going to start feeling fatigue."

"It's not fatigue we feel," Ash explained. "It's our humanity peeking out again. Our normal patterns of sleeping at night are coming back to us, making us tired but only at night when we'd normally be going to sleep anyway."

"But what about Grammy and Gramps?" Will asked. "They're strong but nowhere near as strong as we are in terms of stamina."

"We'll accommodate for them," Ash stated simply. "But we'll have to keep moving forward."

"No sense in trying to retrace our steps," I said. "We didn't find anything coming here and we won't find anything going back."

"Do we really have to leave now?" Gimpy asked.

"No," Ash replied. "Not now, but soon. I say we move when one of us spots their first infected. If there's one, more cannot be too far behind him." We nodded. Seeing an infected definitely meant the end of safety where we lived. Once the infection got to Mercy City, panic and mayhem erupted throughout the city, just as it had in every single place it had ever hit. Erin woke from her slumber and joined us, where we relayed what we had just discussed to her. We ate breakfast and went off to scavenge some supplementary supplies. Will went with me and Erin.

"It's all coming to a point I guess," Will stated.

"But what exactly is that point?" I asked. Will gave me a clueless look signifying he didn't understand. "The point is usually the end, right?" Will nodded. "The end of everything. The question is, 'Where does it all end?' Does it end when we lose our infected abilities and become human? Does it end when the infection takes over everyone and everything? Does it end when we beat back the infection and all the infected are dead? Or does it end when we die?" Will turned white.

"I definitely hope it's not the last thing," Will said. Erin seemed to clutch my arms tightly.

"I agree with Will," Erin stated. I chuckled slightly.

"So what's your idea on the whole, 'We might be humans again,' thing?" I questioned. Erin seemed to smile and loosen up on my arm.

"I'm not entirely sure," she answered. From the tone in her voice she was entirely serious. "I don't really see what the big difference is other than a lack of ability. Maybe you'll have less stamina too."

"It's a shame," Will said. Erin looked at him. "Now Zero won't be able to please you as much in bed."

"You pervert!" Erin shouted as she started swinging at him, her face as red as a cherry tomato. Will laughed and rushed back to the cabin with Erin still swinging at him. I chuckled at that. Despite my own reddened face I had to laugh. I walked on, weaving through the trees as my pace quickened. The trees were still healthy, their green leaves waving in the slight breeze.

I stopped once I arrived in a clearing. The grass was still wet from dew and some of it got on my hands as I brushed some of the grass at my feet. This place was so peaceful it was hard to think that such a place could ever be any other way. I guess everyone feels that way about one place or another. This place, to me, emphasized peace and tranquility. Birds chirped, crickets could be heard at night, the grass was as green as could be and when it came down to it, it was a great place to just lay down and fall asleep.

I made it back to camp with some berries and sticks for a fire. Bear and Sarah returned with water in a few canteens. Ash and Razor returned with a report on the surrounding area. Still nothing. This place was still safe... for now.

* * *

**Me: And that's the chapter.**

**Zero: This is going to go somewhere.**

**Ash: Maybe it'll be good.**

**Sarah: Maybe not.**

**Bear: We'll just have to wait and see.**

**Me: Indeed. Well that'll do it for this week.**

**Ash: Umm, Zero, aren't you supposed to be looking out for someone?**

**Zero: Oh shit! -runs out of the room with Erin in tow-**

**Me: Err... Be good and be safe everyone! I'm outta here! -follows Zero-**


	27. Mud War

**Me: And, finally, here's Chapter 27.**

**Zero: FINALLY! JOY TO THE WORLD!**

**Rendan: Mud War?**

**Me: More or less some filler until my muse starts kicking in again. I've been out of it lately.**

**Zero: When _aren't_ you out of it?**

**-long silence-**

**Me: Good point! Anyway, I've got the disclaimer. I don't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected. Those are exclusively owned by Valve. The things I own are the plot, characters and the Adaptor breed of infected.**

**Rendan: Read and enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 27: Mud War

Quite possibly the hardest thing for me to do at that point was leave the clearing. It may seem foolish but that clearing represented everything that just about anyone in the world could hope our planet would be or become. It was a place of beauty, of peace, of unrestrained life. Everything was free here. The grass, the birds, bugs and trees. They existed without fear. A life we could only dream about for now.

This infection... if it was truly being expelled from our systems, would this be the life we'd experience? One of true peace and tranquility? Hard to say. As long as the infection coursed through our veins we'd never know peace, never know safety. Maybe, someday, we'd get through the hate, but for now, it remained a dream. That's all it would ever be.

Eventually I did leave and made my way back to camp after collecting a few berries and some firewood. Erin was there chasing Will around the camp, swinging wildly as she did so. Everyone else was laughing hysterically at the display. Bear was even rolling on the floor, something I hadn't seen him do in months.

We were happy here, that much could be said. It seemed, for a while, that there never was an infection, there was never any problem, just a happy existence that we all lived. That's the way we lived here. Nothing outside our little circle ever truly got to us. We knew of the dangers but they didn't register as much as it could or probably should have.

"Well, the leader returns," Razor said upon noticing me. I groaned slightly as I piled the supplies with what we'd already collected. I sat amongst the laughing clique and watched the 'performance' everyone else was. It took all of ten seconds before I was laughing as well.

"Zeroooo," Erin playfully whined, "your brother's annoying me!"

"What's happened since they got back?" I asked to whomever decided to answer.

"Will's been running away from her shouting obscenities and making perverted comments," Ash stated.

"Like what?"

"Like how she should probably just jump you and see what happens." I was sure I turned red with that known.

"Or how she's secretly disappointed in how we may becoming human again and won't have unlimited stamina anymore," Gimpy added. I don't think I've turned redder than this in a while. We were suddenly interrupted by thunder booming above us. The second our attention turned upward rain poured down on us. In pure comical fashion, at least to me it was, we rushed for the cabin, tripping each other up and some of us getting mud facials in the process.

Of course there was yelling and some squealing and hell, even some laughter as everyone tried, at once, to force themselves into the door. I stood back from all of this in the rain and watched, laughing my ass off as I did so. At least, I was laughing until Will threw some mud in my face. WIthout missing a beat I picked up some mud and flung it at him.

"MUD FIGHT!" Razor cried as he, too, launched some mud around, hitting Bear and Sarah. "Oh! Lover's Special! One thousand points!" What the hell? There's points now?

"I'll give ya a 'Lover's Special'!" Sarah shouted as she and Bear started to chase him. They eventually caught up and Bear slammed him face first into a mud pile Sarah made. Seconds after that a full 'mud war' started. Our attitude quickly shifted from 'get inside' to 'Fuck the rain! Let's have fun!'

Mud was flying left and right and hitting us everywhere. I think Erin made sure to attack Will while everyone else chose targets at random. It was still funny how Erin chose to attack Will over everyone else. I grabbed Ash and had him help me make a mud fort.

Razor figured out what we were doing and... well, let's just say there were multiple forts up and 'battle ready' in the next five minutes. Ten minutes after that teams were chosen and a new, 'organized' mud war began. Erin was not shy in expressing her joy that Will was on the other team. We went to the front lines and sat in mini mud trenches waiting for the call to battle. Suddenly a mud glob fell from the sky and hit the ground in front of us.

"The first shot has been fired!" Ash shouted. "To war!" The teams seemed fairly balanced. On one side was Sarah, Bear, Razor and Will and on the other was Erin, Gimpy, Ash and myself. Our group rushed out throwing mud in whatever random direction while dodging the mud thrown at us. Eventually Razor and his group had to retreat back to their next bunker and launched several volleys from there. Gimpy was hit a few times and so was I but we kept going.

It took a few seconds before I remembered _who_ exactly I was facing, that being Bear. He jumped out of the bunker holding a giant fucking mud ball and launched it at us. It took all of five seconds before I had to tackle Erin out of the way while the ball flew over us and hit both Gimpy and Ash.

I noticed them get back up but then I noticed something else, namely the position Erin and I were in. I was poised over her, my arms on either side and my body looming just over hers as our eyes met. It seemed as though I forgot about everything around me... at least until–

"Ooooh! Love on the battlefield!" Sarah shouted gleefully. Innocent enough, though both our faces flushed a bright red.

"Eh, he can do better," Will added. I swear I heard something snap in Erin's head. She quickly threw _me_ off and charged the other team. "AH! Crazy, psycho bitch! Run for your lives!" The entire other team bolted and ran for cover, though I think Erin's eyes burned for vengeance on Will. I finally pulled myself up to watch everything.

"Am I ever going to understand what just happened?" I asked no one in particular, though someone felt the need to answer me.

"Nope," Gimpy said. "We, as men, are never meant to fully understand the workings of the female mind. Whenever we men think we've gotten close to understanding they always surprise us. It's like one of the great mysteries of the world, like why do monkeys fling their own shit at people or why does the Easter Bunny hide eggs instead of carrots." I blinked. Leave it to Gimpy to start talking about something profound and end on something stupid.

"Why did you have to say that?" We heard Razor yell at the top of his lungs.

"I was only hazing her!" Will screamed his reply.

"That's not hazing! That's a goddamn death sentence!"

"Like you would know!"

"I DO!" We laughed. Of the entire clique, Razor knew better than anyone how to haze someone and how to make them try to kill you.

We chased after Erin only to find that she, by herself, drove the _entire enemy team_ to their main fort. I stared in very slight amazement at that. I figured she could do something like that but to actually _witness _that is beyond anything I expected. It was also drop dead hilarious.

At this point, Erin was attempting to climb up the fort and attack everyone directly but Sarah and Bear kept pushing her back down. It was like a child climbing up a slide and the kids waiting to slide down kept pushing him back down. In other words, funny and cute at the exact same time.

"Should we?" Ash asked. I nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. We let out a loud battle cry and charged up with her, taking down our enemies and claiming victory for ourselves. Granted, if Erin didn't get pissed off this would've been a lot more difficult. Of course, though we claimed victory, that didn't stop Erin from beating on Will for the next fifteen minutes for his commentary. After all was said and done we stood out in the rain mainly to wash ourselves off of any and all mud that was still on our bodies. Eventually we did manage to get the mud off of us and calmly walked into the cabin.

"That was fun," Razor said, proud that he'd started the most fun thing we've done in what seemed like forever.

"I liked the part when Erin stomped out Will," Gimpy said, still laughing at the fact that Will brought on his own ass whooping.

"I did too!" Sarah agreed as she pat Erin on the shoulder. "Girl power!" The rest of us ended up laughing.

"I liked the part when she threw Zero off her," Will stated, trying to make people remember that part.

"She did?" Bear asked. "The only thing I saw was one hundred whoopassawatts of Righteous Female Fury coming right for you!"

"Whoopassawatts?" Sarah questioned.

"A form of energy expressed in whoop ass. Whoop-ass-a-watts," Bear explained.

"So basically the more whoop ass someone wants to open on someone," I began.

"The higher the wattage. Yes," Bear finished. Out of the rain, we decided to cut things short and go to sleep. That stupid 'war' Razor started wore us all out. Hell, Erin grabbed onto me and fell asleep with her head against my chest almost immediately. Then again, I suppose one hundred whoopassawatts would take a lot out of a person, on the giving _or_ receiving end. Granted that war was stupid and entirely pointless, but maybe that's what we needed. Anything to take away from the danger constantly on the horizon.

* * *

**Me: And that's the chapter.**

**Zero: -Laughs uncontrollably-**

**Me: What's up with him?**

**Rendan: Whoopassawatts.**

**Me: Oh. By the way, whoever came up with that word gets the credit. If I'm the creator, I get the credit. I get the feeling I heard it before though. Oh well.**

**Zero: Not only that. Erin pushed back an entire team with only her Righteous Female Fury! -resumes laughing-**

**Erin: Did you doubt I could do that? -slightly miffed-**

**Zero: -still laughing- Not in the slightest. I _knew _you could do that but seeing it is beyond hilarious!**

**Rendan: It's always funny when it's not happening to you.**

**Me: Yep. Well, that'll do it for this time! Be good and be safe everyone! I'm outta here!**


	28. Time to Leave

**Me: Well, at last, here's Chapter 28.**

**Zero: It has been a while.**

**Rendan: Good to see you're still writing.**

**Me: Well, life's been giving me nothing but shit for a while and my muse took a hell of a blow. So, for what it's worth, I'm sorry.**

**Zero: What's to apologize for? If you don't have the muse, you don't have the muse.**

**Rendan: Strange, I seem to recall you singing a different tune before.**

**Zero: ...Shut up...**

**Me: Well, I'll grab the disclaimer. I don't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected. Those are owned by Valve. The only things I own are the plot, the characters and the Adaptor breed of infected. Now, without further ado, Chapter 28. Read and enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 28: Time to Leave

I awoke to the soothing sound of the rain drops pattering on the roof of the cabin. The drops had a sort of rhythm to them as the rain continued. After cracking my neck I slowly rose from my spot on the floor and looked outside. It was lighter than before, most likely meaning that it was a new day. The rain that had run down the window made it somewhat difficult to see what was beyond it though. Against my better judgement, which at this point was to go back to Erin and fall asleep again, I wandered outside into the rain alone.

The rain was barely a drizzle by this point, and the drops felt only like a mild spray, giving a pleasurable sensation to the parts of my body the drops would hit. It was more like I walked into a mist than into the rain, honestly. I stood in front of the cabin and inhaled deeply, catching the scent of the plants. The scent of flowers, grass and any plant just after it rained always smelled better for some reason. I used to think that it was because the rain would cleanse anything it hit, renewing everything the next day.

I chuckled to myself. If that were true all of us would probably be humans again. I couldn't help but glance to my hands, the only part of me that aesthetically changed at all, aside from my skin tone of course. They looked significantly less claw-like than when I first looked at them those few months ago. Time seemed to be finally catching up to me but there was one worry that remained prominent in my mind. Are we really becoming human again? Or, perhaps, are we becoming something else?

As I stood in the rain, a slight sound caught my attention. It was faint, like someone stepping on a rough piece of grass, but there nonetheless, and it wasn't coming from behind me. My eyes shot around, looking for the source but to no avail. Whatever it was had stopped.

I closed my eyes and listened closely again. The sound started once more and appeared to be getting closer. It wasn't very fast, meaning that whatever was causing that noise was moving either slowly or stealthily, maybe both. My body began to tense slightly as the noise came closer.

After a moment I was able to determine the direction the sound was coming from and immediately turned to my right. My eyes remained locked on the area as I slowly moved toward the approaching figure. I didn't know what it was but as long as I was still a hunter I could probably fight it off. The noises didn't increase in pace at all but didn't slow down or stop either. If whatever was making this noise was a predator, it would've stopped once I started approaching. I stopped in my tracks and looked carefully at the trees, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

After a moment, I saw it. A figure was walking toward me from out of the trees. For a while that was all I could see, a figure. A humanoid figure slowly making its way toward me. I leapt straight into one of the trees to get a kind of vantage point on the approaching silhouette. As I perched on a branch my breath caught in my throat. The figure coming toward us was a lesser infected. If there was one thing you could say about the lesser infected, they _never_ travelled alone. Wherever one went about a hundred or so more were sure to follow.

If this one made its way this far out, more were surely close behind. The creature moved forward a few more steps before a light sound erupted from nowhere. In the next second, the infected's head was removed from his body. I turned back and saw someone on the roof of the cabin, sniper rifle in hand. Gramps! I jumped from the tree to my grandfather and landed next to him.

"Well, you certainly picked a good time to shoot," I said. Gramps chuckled lowly.

"I've got to protect my family, don't I?" He questioned. I let out a long drawn-out sigh.

"You realize what this means right?" I asked. He nodded his response.

"Better get a move on then." I was taken aback by his statement.

"Wait a second," I began, "what about you?" Gramps looked toward me and smiled.

"Your Grandma and I will make our own way to the human settlement. We can't keep up with you kids." No matter what he said, Gramps never lost the smile that always found a way to his face. He ruffled my hair slightly. "Get your friends up and get going. Grammy's already waiting for me at the settlement."

"You already moved?" I asked. Gramps nodded again.

"We left after you fell asleep last night. We've been planning on moving on for some time, now we've got an urgent need to do so. With those infected getting closer we need to get further away." I took a deep breath and nodded. I understood the need to leave. Hell, we all did. All I had to do was break the news to everyone. Perhaps Ash, Gimpy, Bear, Sarah, Razor and I were safe but Will and Erin were not. I dropped from the roof to the front of the cabin and walked inside to find everyone still blissfully asleep.

Knowing what I had to do I gently shook everyone awake. As they rubbed their eyes my attention turned to the window, watching for any silhouette that approached the cabin. Thankfully, there was nothing approaching just yet.

"Zero?" Ash questioned as he finally snapped his senses awake. "What's going on?"

"Yeah," Gimpy added. "I mean, I was having the best dream."

"Did it involve ramming people?" Bear joked.

"Damn straight," Gimpy replied.

"This isn't the time," I stated, catching everyone off guard. They seemed to understand what was wrong and immediately jumped to their feet and started gathering the supplies we'd gotten before. Erin looked around slightly confused before Sarah whispered into her ear, at which point she jumped up and started getting some of the purchased weaponry.

I watched my friends move about like a well-oiled machine. It saddened me that we've gotten so used to living like this so quickly we can move like this. It seemed like this would always be the routine for us. With little to say we quickly hurried out of the cabin where Gramps was waiting for us.

"I guess this is it," Gramps sadly said. Will and I took deep breaths and hugged him. "Now you two take care. Watch out for each other, keep each other safe and come visit me and Grammy sometimes at the base. You know we miss you."

"We will," we promised. Gramps held us close for a moment before he hoisted his rifle and walked off, leaving the eight of us to head our own way. It was still raining, so I was not sure exactly we were going. If I had to guess, I'd say we headed East. As we walked around the trees to our next destination, Razor broke the silence.

"So what did you see?" He inquired.

"A member of the mindless horde," I responded. The group nodded in a silent agreement. If one of _them_ showed up, it was definitely time to move on. As we usually did, we trekked through the forest in silence. It was the smartest thing to do honestly. If we made too much noise we'd attract the entire fucking horde to us. From there it would basically be a slaughter, one way or another. A horde attack would draw special infected, which would draw more horde and so on and so forth in a near never-ending cycle.

To avoid that, silent travel for a while was necessary. Nobody enjoyed it, but it had to be done. After a while, the boredom honestly started to get the better of us. It was pretty obvious too, we all had our tells. Bear would find it ridiculously difficult to keep his hands to himself... and at this point he was cuddling Sarah as if she were a damn teddy bear. Ash tended to breathe faster, as if the speed of his breathing would speed up time. At this point he was up to mach 3 breathing.

Razor had an eye twitch that usually happened when he was either bad or ridiculously bored and his eye was twitching very quickly. Gimpy would start tapping small beats on his body and he was pretty much tapping a Beethoven symphony by this point. Sarah, however, was not bored. She didn't mind being Bear's teddy bear. Her normal tick would be shaking her fingers or moving any part of her body rapidly.

Will's tick was by far the most odd. He would get so bored he'd randomly start swearing to the beat of one of his favorite songs. One time he did a full song of only shits, fucks and bastards. I didn't know what Erin's tell was, seeing as I didn't know her as well as everyone else, but at a glance, she seemed to be the one to completely shut out the world and go into her mind for refuge from the boredom... either that or she was too busy staring at my ass. Hard to tell.

Some time later we exited the forest and wandered into a large wasteland... or it might as well have been. The ground was dead, the plants old and withered. There were no standing trees for what seemed to be miles. I wondered if this was intentionally done or if the infection had hit this area hard.

From a first glance, that much seemed to be obvious. There were a few skeletons littered about, some in random places, others in what appeared to be a pattern. Could be some cult used to perform rites or something here.

"I was going to say that we can finally bullshit again, but this is just fucking weird," Ash said. He walked next to me and glanced around the area. "So many skulls..." He didn't know how to finish that statement. Nobody did.

"Looks like someone wanted to keep people away from here," Sarah mused.

"She does have a point," Gimpy agreed. "This does look like some kind of cultist shit."

"Let's keep moving," Will suggested. "I don't want to be in this place any longer than we have to." With the group muttering their agreement we carried on. As we walked the wasteland seemed to stretch beyond what seemed possible. Probably a mirage or something similar. We continued on until a sudden yelp snapped us out of our silence.

Razor had tripped over something and hit the ground, hard. When he tried to get up he found his foot caught in some kind of metal loop. A metal loop that seemed to be randomly sticking out of the ground.

"What the fuck?" Razor yelled. He quickly removed his foot from the loop and brushed away the dirt to find some kind of trap door underneath the dust. Apparently, he'd stumbled upon a base of some kind. "This is like some shit you see in the movies."

"What should we do?" Erin asked.

"I think it's obvious," I stated. I grabbed the loop and pulled the door upward. "We check it out."

"Wait a second," Bear started, "there might be some seriously fucked up cult shit in there. I don't care much for that stuff but do we really want to walk in on a virgin being sacrificed or some shit like that?"

"Look at it this way, either there's nothing there, or we save a person from being sacrificed." Looking at Ash, Razor and Gimpy I continued, "It may even be a pretty girl."

"Clique away!" Razor shouted as he and Gimpy rushed down the hidden stairs. Ash jumped in and crashed into both of them, making them all tumble down until they hit the bottom. The rest of us chuckled and descended into the darkness.

* * *

**Me: And that'll do it.**

**Zero: Jesus Christ, where are we heading now?**

**Me: You'll have to wait and see.**

**Rendan: It is kinda good that you're always able to end these chapters with the readers guessing at one or two things.**

**Me: I find it helps keep them interested.**

**Zero: It definitely does that.**

**Me: Well, that's it for now. Be good and be safe, everyone! I'm outta here!**


	29. The True Cause

**Me: After the long wait, here's Chapter 29!**

**Zero: HOORAY!**

**Rendan: You're certainly happy.**

**Me: Of course he would be. This is his story after all. For any of my fans that love this can consider this chapter an early holiday gift.**

**Zero: I know I do!**

**Rendan: I do enjoy this one myself. So what's with the long wait between updates now?**

**Me: Aside from real life stuff getting in the way and Ms. Muse deciding not to help, I think it's a bit more meaningful if there's a wait involved. Gives me more time to put the thought into it that could potentially make the chapters great.**

**Rendan: Potentially?**

**Me: Well, to each their own. People have different tastes, so what is great for one may not be great to another.**

**Zero: Basic shit, dude. I've got the disclaimer! Azard doesn't own Left 4 Dead or the types of infected that are created by Valve. He only owns the characters, the plot and the Adaptor breed of infected.**

**Rendan: And of course you've never fucked up on your own story.**

**Zero: Fuck you!**

**Me: Enough already! Sorry for the delay. Read and enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 29: The True Cause

I must have lost track of how far down the staircase led us. It felt like we'd been walking for hours. Sure, we laughed when Ash, Gimpy and Razor fell at first. Now we pitied them. If only slightly, of course. Everyone was quiet the whole way down. Surprising, I would have thought at least _one_ of them would have at least commented or attempted to crack a joke about how ridiculous this all seemed to be. Here we were, in the middle of nowhere, descending a staircase into who-the-fuck-knows-where, into pitch blackness and where a cult had possibly been set up.

As we walked, I watched the fading figures of the clique. When I thought it was dark I had woefully underestimated it. I couldn't even see three inches in front of me much less the group who were at varying distances on the long walk down. How the fuck did _anyone_ make it to this place? Did they carry torches or some such nonsense? Probably did, especially if a cult was involved. Back in Mercy City most cults did the cliché black robes and torches bit. It was abused to death in all honesty but that never stopped the cults from doing it.

I was the first one to reach the floor... and tripped right over Gimpy.

"Ow! What the fuck!" Gimpy shouted.

"Sorry, Gimpy. I didn't see you there," I said.

"Not surprised," Ash groaned next to me. "Can't see shit in this goddamn place. Hey, Razor! Did you find a light?"

"Not yet!" Razor called back. Seconds later someone else tripped on Gimpy and landed on top of me in a crushing heap. From the amount of pain I felt alone I knew it was Bear. He was soon followed by another pressure, which I'm guessing was Sarah, then Will and finally Erin.

"Will you fucking people stop falling over me?" Gimpy cried.

"Fuck you and your problems!" I yelled, though my voice was clearly pained and muffled slightly. "They may be falling over you but they're landing on me!" This brought out a laugh from the rest of the group.

"Sorry, bro," Bear apologized, though he didn't exactly try to get up and give me room to breathe.

"If you're so damn sorry then get the hell off of me!" Another laugh. I felt the weight that was pressed against me and kept me stuck on the floor gradually lessen. At least they had the decency to get off. For whatever reason, Bear didn't get off. "Dude, get the hell off!"

"But you're so comfy!" Bear complained. "And warm too! When did you start getting warm again?" I growled lowly and tried elbowing Bear off. It didn't work. "Seriously, you're really freaking warm! Now I know why Erin simply _loves_ to sleep next to you at night. She gets _all __this __heat_ for herself. No wonder we've had to pry her off of you." I think that was the first time in my life I was glad to be in a place so dark that nobody could see. That meant they couldn't see just how red my face had gotten. I wasn't sure about Erin, at least for a second.

"He started getting warm around the time I started sleeping next to him," Erin commented. Well, that answered that question. Another thing that surprised me was that her comment wasn't smug in the slightest. It actually sounded... shy. Did she know about my thing for shy girls? "And you're right about one thing, Bear, I do love the amount of heat his body gives off."

The shy tone had vanished and turned... oh my god don't tell me that tone was what I think it was. No, I'm not saying what I think it was either. She giggled. Why did she giggle? Her giggle was soon followed by Sarah's. What the hell did they know? Each of us knew that when more than one girl giggled about something, it meant they knew something the boys didn't.

"Hey, Razor! You're an Adaptor, right?" I heard Will shout.

"Yeah!" Razor shouted back, though he sounded much further away. "Why?"

"Why don't you adapt that fat head of yours into something that can give us some light?" Will questioned. It was silent for a moment before a massive group face palm was heard. Gimpy, Ash and Razor had slapped their faces by the sound of it. Razor must have started walking back because there was a set of footsteps getting ever closer. Moments later I felt someone kick my head. Dammit Razor.

"Ow! That hurt!" I shouted. Razor kicked hard... that much I'll admit. Seconds later there was a light glow that gave us all just enough light to see our predicament. Bear jumped up and finally allowed me to get up. Gimpy had landed on Ash somehow, Erin and Sarah were still giggling and Will was sitting on Gimpy's back.

"Sorry about that," Razor said while rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. I swear that bastard watched too much anime... He started taking character quirks from certain characters and mixed them to suit his needs. I once asked him if he was attempting to _become_ an anime character. He shrugged at the question and said, 'Works for me'. Sometimes, I swear, the boy didn't know anything about what he wanted to be, realistic or otherwise.

Finally, with a small light source, we were able to continue through the dark corridor at the bottom of the stairs. Another long walk. After a few minutes, possibly twenty or so, Razor stopped in front of a large door. The door, surprising had four letters printed on it. 'C.E.D.A.'

"CEDA?" Bear questioned.

"What the hell is CEDA?" Razor asked. While most of us looked at it curiously, I noticed that Ash had tensed slightly.

"Civil Emergency and Defense Agency," Ash said, though his eyes never left the door. All of us turned to look at Ash. Though we're positive he could feel our stares on him, he never looked away from the letters. Bear took the initiative and punched the door as hard as he could, sending the thing literally flying off its hinges and straight into the wall at the other side of the room. We walked inside and suddenly the lights came on. I glanced back and saw that Razor had flipped a switch that he found.

This certainly wasn't what I expected to find out in the middle of nowhere. A cult meeting spot, maybe, but not this. From wall to wall were rows of supplies. Ammunition, water, food, weapons, both melee and ranged and any other essentials that may be needed. We looked around the room while Will ran to the weapons racks cheering like a kid at Christmas. Ash was looking around the room wearily, as if he were perturbed by something, though I'd be damned if I knew what.

Will resumed his cheering while the rest of us starting stocking up on essentials we'd need, mainly food and water. Ash, however, wasn't going anywhere near the supplies. Instead, he walked around the edge of the room and tapped the walls every so often. This was strange, that much could be said.

"How much stuff do you think is here?" Will asked from in front of the weapons.

"I don't know," Razor answered. While most of us were looking around at the stacked supplied with no small amount of wonder, Ash was still moving about the room and tapping on the walls. What the hell was he looking for?

"It should be around here somewhere," he muttered. It was a miracle I'd heard him at all. Suddenly, he moved a rock into the wall and a whole section of it simply slid to the side, leading into another room. We almost dropped the supplies we were holding when we saw that. Ash didn't waste any time and entered the room while the rest of us, not so calmly, placed the provisions we'd grabbed on the floor and followed him. The new was entirely different than the one we'd just been in. This room had the latest technological marvels from wall to wall, all seemingly working on some kind of formula.

At the far end of the room was a small table that a scientist would perform experiments on or something to that effect. There's one thing I'll say about this though... it was odd to be in a place like this. It almost felt like a mad scientist's hideout with the amount of things going on in this place. Ash, however, was clutching his hands into fists so tight his knuckles started to turn white.

"Ash," I said softly, seemingly enough to snap him out of whatever trance he'd thrown himself into. "You okay, bro?" Ash turned back to face me and shook his head.

"No," Ash stated. "No, I'm not... I know exactly where I am." He said nothing else and pointed to a computer that was near the experiment table, or whatever the fuck that thing's called. The screen must have been on a power saving setting since the screen was black, but the light indicating if the computer was on was lit.

We walked over to it and pressed a button. When the screen came to life a small box appeared. Username and password. Scarily enough, the username box was already filled in. I jumped on the computer and tabbed into the password section of the box.

"Anyone remember the five most commonly used passwords?" I asked.

"Better question," Gimpy began. "Who here's seen 'Hackers' recently?" I sighed. He did have a point though. That movie definitely went over them at least once, though I couldn't remember if they said there were five or four.

"Try 'password'," Bear suggested. I entered it... nothing happened.

"How about 'secret'?" Sarah questioned. Again, I entered the word but nothing happened.

"Maybe 'love' or 'sex'?" Razor asked. I tried them both to no avail. Did the members of CEDA actually have originality?

"God," Ash said. That was it. That was all he said. I tried it. I take back what I thought before. These bastards had _no_ originality. I was into the computer so quickly I thought my head would spin. God, huh? Were they trying to play 'God' or something? After a moment of quiet contemplation I began to search on the computer.

Sadly, I didn't find too much. All that was there were files on infected areas, species of infected, etc. There was one file, however, that caught my eye. It was simply labeled 'Cure'. Upon opening the folder a whole new screen opened up.

It went into great detail about how CEDA was going through hell and back to find a cure for the infection. It even mentioned a thought that if they were able to create Boomer bile they should be able to make a cure. They _made_ Boomer bile? How the fuck did they manage that?

As I looked through the file, I noticed something that confused me further. It was a sub-folder that was labeled 'Project A'. Project A... I knew I've heard of that somewhere before. Suddenly, it hit me. Ash... He was Project A. I opened the file and noticed the amount of detail it was going into. Namely how they made the supposed cure, Ash's transformation and finally his escape from the base and back into the outside world. These bastards... they were the cause of everything. Well, not the initial outbreak, but the reason it came to Mercy City as quickly as it did!

In a way, they robbed our lives from us. They robbed us of our normalcy, though I'm sure none of us gave a shit about any of that. They robbed us of our friends. They robbed us of everything we actually liked about being alive... whatever amount there initially was. Worst of all, they almost robbed us of our humanity.

"Better thank their lucky stars," I heard Bear growl out from behind me. "They better be thankful that we didn't lose who we were because of their idiocy."

"They may have been trying to find a cure but they failed to realize just how high the price of failure would be," Sarah said venomously. Ash, while this was going on, started to hyperventilate. After a moment he shouted as loudly as his lungs would allow and started to trash the room, destroying anything he could with his bare hands.

"You bastards! You sick, depraved, cock sucking, cum guzzling, shit spewing, scum sucking, pus drinking, mother fucking bastards!" Ash effectively sent himself into a pure rage as he continued to break anything and everything he could, swearing and screaming the whole while. The rest of us stayed silent. Ash had to get this out of his system. No matter how much of a gift this seemed to be, it still robbed Ash of the life he had... and almost cost him everything. He lost his family in the mayhem and almost lost his friends as well.

We stayed back and let him vent, though we all shared his anger. But, no matter how mad we were, we'd never be as angry as Ash was. After all, it all started with Ash trying to help his family. He didn't know... he didn't know just what storm would be unleashed if they failed. He didn't even know what he signed up for. He did it out of love for his family... and that got them all killed. Now we were all he had left... and we were going to make damn sure he wasn't going to lose us any time soon.

Ash eventually finished his rampage after destroying roughly ninety percent of the room. Still screaming, he dropped to his knees and stared at the floor. I was the first person to approach him... and I'll never forget what I saw. Ash had his head bowed and I could hear something almost begging to come out. After a second, I saw something wet hit the floor. Tears. Ash was crying. I'd never seen him cry before and to see this now just showed how much this was hurting him. He continued to sob almost silently.

I hugged him and let him cry on my shoulder. I could feel it... his sorrow, his pain. I felt it all. After a moment, I felt another set of arms hug the both of us. Erin... Soon after, another and yet another person entered the hug. When it finally ended, all of us were locked in a group embrace. All of us affected by CEDA's mistake. All of us... crying for our friend's loss. Crying for the loss our brother, no, all of us had suffered.

* * *

**Me: And that's the chapter.**

**Zero: Damn... just damn.**

**Me: Eh?**

**Rendan: So much emotion at the very end... that's all.**

**Me: It makes sense after all.**

**Zero: That... and Ash's swear-fest was pretty funny too... reasons behind it notwithstanding of course.**

**Rendan: Of course. My condolences by the way.**

**Ash: Thanks, Ren. That means a lot. Honestly, thank you.**

**Me: I guess that'll do it for this time.**

**Ash: Can I handle the send off?**

**Me: Go nuts.**

**Ash: Be good and be safe everyone!**

**Me: I'm outta here! **


	30. When All Else Fails, Move along

**Me: And, after an insane wait, is Chapter 30!**

**Zero: Whoot! Writer's block was a bitch this time, wasn't she?**

**Me: Yes, she was, but that's not the only reason.**

**Zero: Excuse me?**

**Rendan: Wha?**

**Me: Over the past year and about a half, I've been mulling over a question that's been... bothering me quite a bit.**

**Zero: And that is?**

**Me: I'll explain at the end. But this might very well be the last chapter of The Infected's Tale.**

**Everyone: WHAAAAAAT!?**

**Me: As I said, I'll explain at the end. For now, I'll handle the disclaimer. I don't own Left 4 Dead or the breeds of infected owned by Valve. I own only the OCs, the plot, and the Adaptor breed of infected. Now, after so long, read and enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 30: When All Else Fails, Move Along

I lost track of time as we remained in that position. I didn't want to think about it anymore. I hated this feeling... this feeling of sorrow. I knew there wasn't a damned thing we could've done about it. The only ones that could've stopped it were the very ones that brought it to us, and they sacrificed innocent people to find a cure that most likely didn't exist. Our embrace eventually broke as we moved back from Ash, giving him some space to breathe. He continued to cry for a time, now unashamed of what he'd previously done. Ash wiped his eyes and turned to us, letting out a sniffle as he shook his head.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"For what?" Bear asked.

"I'm sorry I lost it... It's just-"

"You don't have to say anything," Gimpy stated. "We understand, Ash. We really, really do." Ash took several deep breaths before turning to me.

"Well, fearless leader," Ash began, "where to next?" After finally realizing he, as well as the rest of them, expected an answer, I stood up and moved back over to the computer, once more roaming through the files in search of any information. What I found surprised me, but didn't leave me with much hope.

"Well," I started, "it seems as though CEDA was doing some long term reconnaissance of the immediate area. They seem to have found some areas within a hundred or so miles that are untouched... but if this place was abandoned..."

"Who's to say the infected didn't get that far too," Razor finished. "Well, we might as well check it out."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Gimpy asked.

"At best, we find a place we can finally settle down," Ash stated.

"At worst, we run into a bunch of psycho militants that shoot us on sight," I finished. Erin approached me and wrapped her arms around me, the very action alone calming me down more so than I thought would be possible.

"As bad as that is, it seems like our best and only option," Erin said. I looked to the rest of the group, waiting for their input.

"All in favor of checking out this, 'untouched' area?" Will asked.

"I!" Came the collective cry of the remainder of the clique. No one was against it.

"The I's have it, bro. Face it, we'll follow you to Hell and back, as long as you're the one to lead us out." I turned to face the others as they nodded their assent. A soft chuckle found some way to escape my lips and I smiled. The idea they had such faith in me bolstered my resolve to see all of us get out of this apocalypse alive. I nodded once, before turning my attention to the door on the far side of the room.

"First order of business is escape, after that, we go hunting for paradise!" I shouted. One collective cheer later we started to head out. Will grabbed some of CEDA's manufactured boomer bile and pocketed it, probably to use it for some later event. He gave me a slight nod, trying to tell me that he knew what he was doing. I won't deny I was skeptical, but I trusted my brother more than I worried about what he was doing.

Walking from the wastelands was a, for lack of a better word, nightmare. No food, little water, though admittedly only Erin and Will needed any. Thankfully we remembered to stockpile enough to make it safely through, though the journey itself carried well into the night. Besides worrying about that, thankfully this small journey was uneventful. We saw few of the horde making their way to the direction we came from. We managed to make it into the start of a forest just before night fell, but it took us until midnight to find a place suitable for rest. Even then, we only rested as much as was needed to properly function. I didn't sleep at all that night. I chose to take the first watch but neglected to wake anyone else to take over.

My mind wandered again and I thought about the paradise we were looking for. I questioned whether it was even possible that such a place existed. I didn't know but at the same time I didn't want to know. The very concept that it was impossible was terrifying to me. My dream, the one where almost all of us were killed, resurfaced and reminded me of a possible outcome should we fail. I shuddered slightly, though not from the cold night. I realized, at that moment, just how afraid I really was. My fr- my _family_ trusted me to lead them to safety. What if I couldn't do it? What if I failed? What if I got them all killed? I wouldn't be able to live with myself after such a thing. Those ideas kept me from sleeping, and so I stood watch all night. Being awake like that... an old urge resurfaced, one I hadn't felt since we started this journey from Mercy City; the urge to kill.

I glanced down at my hands and found them becoming more clawed, like they were before. I gasped in fear and willed the urge away. After what felt like hours, I succeeded. Looking back at my hands I realized they'd returned to normal, just like they were before I transformed. My eyes widened. When did they return completely to normal?! They were never completely declawed, but they looked like they were retracting. Now they were gone. I turned around and looked for the highest tree in my immediate area. After crouching, I leapt. I leapt as high as I could. My eyes shut and I felt the rush of the air and wind brush against my face. My eyes opened, and I saw that I'd overshot the treetop by a good... I have no idea how high. My best guess is five meters, but I think it was more than that. Of course, what goes up must come down, I dropped. Thankfully, I had enough presence of mind to land properly on my feet without much issue. No pain in my legs, no feeling of my bones snapping, nothing.

I walked through the camp a few times, getting a good look at everyone while they slept. I never lingered, but I wanted to. I wanted to get a good enough look at them that I'd never forget them or what they looked like again, just like I had when the infection first set in. Bear stirred a bit and lifted his head. He blinked several times to fully wake himself up. How that worked, I'll never know or understand.

"Can't sleep?" Bear asked.

"Is it that obvious?" I replied with my own question. Bear looked up through the trees to the moon and observed it as best he could.

"By my count you should've woken me up for sentry duty at least an hour ago. What's on your mind?" I sighed.

"Everything."

"Again?"

"Again." There was a pause before I continued. "I keep thinking about what we're doing, Bear. I keep wondering if I'm doing the right thing."

"If you weren't, we'd stop you or correct you," Bear insisted.

"I know, but what if you don't know if I'm doing something wrong?"

"We always have, we wouldn't stop now. And we always know because we can read you like a book."

"W-what?"

"Your expression. We've known this for a while, but we can always tell when you're hiding something. We knew when you were secretly pleased, pissed off, or just at peace with yourself. There was always a subtle hint you threw out when you were confident and when you were unsure that we knew how to pick up on. And we knew, in our minds and hearts, when you were right and wrong."

"Am I that easy to read?"

"When you're as close as we are, it's like that for everyone," Bear continued. "You've used that power to call Ash and Razor out on more than a few occasions. You just never knew why, but something was off." I blinked. He was right. I never could piece together why, but I always knew when something was wrong, whether or not they'd admit it. "And you just now realized I was right." I stared at Bear for a second, but he just laughed and smiled. "If I couldn't tell when something was bothering my brother, I wouldn't be much of a brother, would I?"

"I guess not," I whispered, more to myself than to him. Of course, he heard me.

"Not at all. Want me to take over, or would you rather finish this watch yourself?"

"I'll finish it. I've already gone this long, might as well see it through."

"Kay. G'night, Zero."

"G'night, Bear." He grinned and settled himself back into his spot. Within seconds, I heard his soft breathing indicating that he was asleep.

"Can't sleep, eh?" I heard Ash's voice ask. I turned around to see him leaning against a tree. I shook my head. "What do you need to ask me?" I blinked again before what Bear said sunk back in. I ended up letting out a chuckle before I finally replied.

"Do you think it exists?" I questioned.

"Do I think what exists?"

"The paradise we're looking for."

"Do I believe that exists... Yes." I stared at him for a moment. He took a deep breath before continuing. "I have to believe in it." I tilted my head. "We, as people, need something to believe in, be it a god, an ideal, or anything to make life bearable. Sometimes, our hope, our beliefs, are all we have. If we lose those, we're truly lost. We end just wandering around the world in endless sorrow and misery because we never held on to what mattered most. I'd rather keep believing so if I do die, I can die with that belief still in my heart, and I believe that I haven't died for nothing, that I died for a cause, a reason, and a belief for a better life. Of course, that doesn't give me the right to hurt anyone that doesn't share my beliefs."

"I see."

"I believe in that paradise. I believe that we'll be free from our sorrows soon enough. Most of all though, I believe in my family and I believe in my leader." I struggled to keep the tears that were welling up in my eyes from pouring out. My head fell down and I stared at the floor for a moment, trying my damnedest to keep from crying. A hand rested itself on my shoulder and, as I looked up, I saw Ash standing next to me. "You'll lead us to that paradise, my brother. We'll find our way. We just need you to believe it, too. G'night, bro." Ash released my shoulder and wandered back to his spot. Like Bear, he nestled himself in and fell asleep shortly afterward.

I took a few breaths and finally let my own tears fall. I had cried when Ash did at that base, but only now did I feel just how cold my tears were. I liked to believe they were symbolic, that they were my fears, my uncertainties and my insecurities leaving my body in favor of the more confident emotions that kept coming to me. Whether or not that's what they were, I'll probably never know. Perhaps it's best that way. I looked at the sky again. The color had changed. The sun was undoubtably rising. Looking at the tallest tree again, I leapt up to it, this time jumping just high enough to reach the top.

From the top of the tree, I looked out toward the rising sun. The sun had just broken the horizon and gave it's life-giving light to the world, ushering in a new day. The sky turned a multitude of beautiful colors, the most prominent being a calm orange and a fiery though serene red. The colors spanned the entirety of the sky. I turned around in time to see the moon setting on the opposite side. This time, there truly was an end to the night and, for the first time in a very long time, I truly saw a new day had dawned. As a looked out into the sunrise, I realized that now, more than ever, our paradise was in our reach. It always was.

* * *

**Me: And that's the chapter.**

**Zero: As lovely as that was, will you tell us what you meant at the beginning?**

**Me: Of course. Since my last update, I've been mulling over a question. That was whether or not I should end this Fan Fiction, alter it some, and turn it into an actual novel.**

**Rendan and Zero: An actual novel!?**

**Me: That's right. Of course, I'd have to remove the Left 4 Dead stuff in it and rework the infected so they'd all be original beings, all with different abilities and weaknesses. I have a few ideas already, but it would take a lot, A LOT of effort to do. That's why I'm leaving it up to my readers.**

**Zero: Readers, we really need your help here!**

**Rendan: Fuck the fourth wall here, I suppose?**

**Zero: Yep!**

**Me: Attention readers, on my profile there is a poll. That poll is what will decide what happens. The choices are: I continue writing this story as a Fan Fiction and that's it; I call this story completed and attempt to turn this into a true novel; I do both. The third choice will clearly be the most difficult, but I'm leaving this decision up to you, the fans of this particular story. Please, if you can spare any, take the time to vote for what you think I should do. I thank you all for your time, your patience, and for being some of the best fans in the world. I also apologize for taking this long to write this chapter, but given what I've been wondering, I don't see it as surprising it took this long.**

**Rendan: I suppose that's it.**

**Zero: Yeah.**

**Me: Be good and be safe, everyone.**

**Everyone: We're outta here!**


	31. Life is Beautiful

**Zero: Chapter 31 is here!**

**Rendan: I can see that, but... where's Azard?**

**Zero: Don't know, sadly. His muse has been... well, depressed, lately, and he's not been around much either.**

**Rendan: Not hard to see why, so I'm guessing that you're putting this up in his place?**

**Zero: Yeah. Seems to be the least I can do. Oh! And to anyone that wants to know what's been going on, I'll explain at the end. I really doubt he wants to do that again.**

**Rendan: I can bet. Do you mind?**

**Zero: Go for it.**

**Rendan: Azard doesn't own Left 4 Dead or the standard forms of Infected. He owns the plot, the Adaptor breed of Infected, and the OCs.**

**Zero: Thanks for being respectful.**

**Rendan: Not at a time like this, dude. Not at a time like this.**

**Zero: Agreed. Read and Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 31: Life is Beautiful

Months passed without major incident, quite slowly too. The clique and I kept traveling to whatever direction we thought would be right without result. Sometimes it seemed as though we were walking around in circles. We might have been. By now everything started to look like it was the same. We were either in a very vast and deep forest or, as I mentioned earlier, we've been walking in circles. We even tried marking the trees we've already seen and so far we haven't found one that bore our markings. Every so often, my mind would wander and I'd think of Grammy and Gramps. I'd wonder how they were and hoped they were okay. Hell, I still do.

Will and I would sometimes share stories about them with each other over the fire on nights when we were supposed to take watch, or even on nights when we couldn't sleep. It didn't matter much but it gave us something to hope for. If anyone besides our group could give us hope for the future, it was them. As we continued traveling, I found it harder and harder to sleep, as did my brother.

Ash seemed to be recovering quite well, but I don't know for certain whether or not he's forgiven himself for what happened, hell knows we already have. Bear has been shrinking back to his normal size and seemed to be at a halfway point between his original height and the extra seven feet he gained by becoming a Tank. Sarah had been slowly getting her original skin tone back and her elongated fingers had all but shrunk back to normal size. Gimpy... well, he was Gimpy. Aside from his proportions steadily evening out, he's still his same old goofy self. Razor, arguably the most normal out of us, has been going out of his way to keep our morale up by doing shows and whatever, mostly telling funny or inspiring stories every night before we went to bed. He'll be a good leader if he ever decides to become one. Erin and I... well, I won't say too much regarding that. There are some things I'd like to keep a secret, thank you very much.

It was just like every other night that I couldn't sleep. I tossed and I turned, trying my damnedest to get comfortable without success. Suddenly, I felt a hand shake my shoulder gently, trying to stir me from sleep. Opening my eyes and looking up, I saw Will crouched over me. I sat up and stretched making sure I got out any kinks I might've had before I looked over to my brother again. I opened my mouth to speak but in a quick moment he silenced my by placing a hand over my mouth.

"Zero, shut up and come with me," Will said, leaving no room for debate in his voice. I yanked Will's hand from my mouth to give him a response.

"What for?" I harshly whispered. Looking around, I spotted Bear on guard duty. Good thing he was still awake.

"I need your help with something. Bear's staying to keep watch and everyone's too tired and I'd rather let them sleep."

"Well what about me?" I tried to joke. Will's deadpan expression told me the joke was in poor taste. "Sorry."

"Apology accepted, now let's go!" Will whispered back. I stood up and lithely moved around the sleeping clique, well, those of them that were sleeping, and followed Will into a thicker part of the woods. Not five minutes after leaving the camp behind, I heard what sounded like muffled pops. As I got closer, those muffled pops became louder to the point I was able to recognize them as gunfire, rapid fire, at that. "That's from a mounted machine gun, and you'll never believe who's using it." I shot a confused glance toward my brother, but he only grinned in response. The closer we got to the gunfire, the louder and quicker the sounds got just before they abruptly stopped.

Following Will, he led me to what appeared to be an abandoned home. What the hell this was doing out this far into the woods I have no idea. There was no civilization around probably for hundreds of miles, and that was the smallest distance I could guess. One of the windows had been broken and I saw the muzzle of the machine gun sticking out of it. Will, smirking for reasons I was unaware of, cupped his hands in front of his mouth and let out a strange kind of whistle that soundly oddly close to a bird call. Imagine my surprise when another call, just like the one Will used, came from the house. Will motioned for me to follow with his hand and I did, though when we walked through the door we came face to face with people we haven't seen in a good while.

"There're my boys!" Grammy said with glee. I swear if I had less control than I did I would've glomped her or something of the like. Wait a sec, glomp? Is that even a word... or a verb? Who freaking cared?! Gramps was off in the corner smiling just the same. Regardless of the circumstances, we had a nice group hug that I wished could've been so much longer. Gramps paused a moment to cough into his hand. He took one look at it as well before suddenly rubbing his hands together, almost like he was dry washing his hands.

"How've you been?" Gramps asked. I turned to Will to see him give me a shit eating grin.

"We're fine," Will responded for the both of us. "We've been traveling for a while and we're honestly not too far away from here. About a ten minute walk west." Will then turned to me. "I was out exploring and ran into them. Took me about a half hour to mark the way here though! Was it worth it?"

"More than you'll ever know," I replied. Turning to Gramps I sighed. "It's been hard though. I'm not even sure what I'm doing anymore. Things are— difficult, when you have to keep going and you have no idea what you'll find. I've been trying to lead everyone to a safe haven but I'm not even sure one exists."

"One does," Gramps said, catching my attention. "It's about a hundred miles north of here, abandoned. Rumor has it that this place was a research center of some sort before the scientists left it to rot. I figured if someone were to fix it up it'd be a hell of a haven for refugees."

"A research center?" I asked. "How'd that help?"

"It helps that it's built like a fortress," Gramps answered. "High walls, mounted guns everywhere. To be honest, the only reason I think it was abandoned was because they ran out of provisions due to a radio blackout or something. Only reason we're not in there now," Gramps paused for another coughing fit and round of dry washing his hands, "is because I can't climb a twenty foot wall made of concrete. But, I'd bet Zero here can jump it no problem."

"So that's where we'll go then!" I cheered. "You guys can come with us and—"

"I don't think that's going to happen, Zero," Grammy said. Both Will and I stared at her as if she lost her mind.

"Why not?" Will must've wondered aloud. Grammy laughed hollowly.

"We're old, boys," she said. "I don't think we have it in us to go that far and settle down again. Every day my legs hurt more and more and I move less and less."

"Well, so what?" I questioned. "We can get Bear to carry you!" Grammy gave us a simple smile.

"I suppose it's hard to say no to that," Grammy stated, getting a smile out of me. She gave a strangely solemn look to Gramps who sat down in a small, comfortable looking, armchair.

"Before we do, though, I need you boys to get me a barrel of gunpowder and a crate of ammo that are in the basement," Gramps told us. Will and I nodded and raced off down into the lower level via a storm cellar or something of the like outside. I had an idea of what he wanted to use that gunpowder for, to blow open a locked door or at least put a fixable hole in a concrete wall. After Will tried to lift it himself I understood why Gramps didn't go for that plan. That barrel weighed at least two hundred pounds, way too heavy for him to lift it on his own. I helped Will carry up the barrel before we went back for the ammo. No doubt we'd need that sooner or later. As soon as we got the ammo crate into the house, a piercing screech reached our ears. We glanced outside and noticed a horde of Infected suddenly appear in the trees.

Where the fuck did they come from?! I raced to the upper floor of the house and climbed out the window onto the top of the house to look around. Infected. Everywhere I looked I only saw Infected. All of them a mindless horde of death, decay, and destruction. Gunfire soon erupted from the inside as a the horde charged, none of them noticing or caring how many of their own were being gunned down so effortlessly. Climbing back inside, I raced downstairs to help in whatever way I could. Gramps was setting up a mounted gun near a back window while Will was on the front gun mowing down whatever came too close. I took the mounted gun from my gramps and opened fire as best I could. What made matters worse is that I knew, without a doubt, that no one from the camp was going to come. We were on our own. As Will and I kept suppressing fire on the still approaching horde, Gramps shuffled around some and suddenly a very familiar, very _bad_ scent wafted into my nostrils. _Gasoline_. Turning just slightly, I noticed Gramps pouring gas onto the floor.

"What are you doing!?" I shouted over the roaring fire of the two mounted guns. He didn't seem to hear me and continued what he was doing. As abruptly as the firing began, it ceased and instead of the gun firing, I heard the clicks of an empty magazine. I got a good look at the ammo crate we'd brought up and found it empty. Was it empty this whole time? Or... wait, who opened it?! No— he couldn't have. Gramps had gasoline in the ammo crate? For what? Gramps poured the remaining gas around the barrel that was filled with gunpowder before he shouted for me and Will to get away from the windows. We obliged, but we didn't go near him until we pushed whatever heavy objects we could in front of the windows and doors to buy us even the slightest bit of time.

"Gramps, what the hell were you doing?!" Will repeated my earlier question.

"I'm going to light this gas and blow all these bastards to kingdom come!" He declared.

"Gramps, you put too much gas on the floor," I added. "You'll never get out in time!" Gramps looked at me with a look I'd only ever seen on him once before, but I'd be damned if I remembered when. Almost like a flash it came to me. It was the look of acceptance, the same look he had several years ago when his mother passed away.

"I know," Gramps said, his tone the single most ominous thing I'd ever heard.

"Gramps, don't do this!" I shouted. "If we're going to blow these fuckers to back to hell let me light the gas! I can get out in time!" Gramps shook his head as the deafening sounds of hands scraping and rattling whatever was blocking their entrance became ever louder. Gramps coughed again, this time letting us look at the palm of his hand. Blood, both fresh, old, and smeared. I looked at him in horror, as did Will, when he let out a grim laugh.

"I'm sorry, Zero, Will," Gramps intoned lowly. "I should've told you as soon as you got here. The real reason we haven't gone to that haven. I'm sick, boys. Very sick. I've been sick for a few months now, caught it after we went our separate ways. I know the signs and I know what's coming next. The reaper's coming for me one way or the other. Let me go out on my own terms."

"G-Grammy," Will and I worriedly stuttered. "A-aren't you going to—?" Grammy shook her head to the negative.

"No, boys, not this time," Grammy said as tears poured from her eyes. "My place in life has, and will always be, by your grandfather's side." She paused a moment to give a loving stare to the man she'd spent so many years with. "In this world and in heaven, wherever that may be." Will and I recoiled in a mix of shock and sorrow.

"You boys get out while you can, they'll be breaking through those defenses soon," Gramps stated. Before we could move, he and Grammy pulled us close together and gave us the single most loving hug we'd ever gotten.

"We love you both, no matter what," Grammy said during the embrace. "Don't you ever forget that. Promise you'll watch out for each other." Will and I couldn't find our voices. Well, I couldn't, I'm not sure about Will. We merely nodded before, simultaneously, we found them.

"We love you too," we both replied. We moved to head up the stairs to escape via the window when we heard Gramps call out to us.

"Never forget—" Gramps began.

"You are our whole hearts," they finished together. Will and I nodded again, sure that we'd never be able to escape if we stayed any longer. We raced upstairs and Will hopped on my back just as I readied to jump out the window as far as my leap would take me. I jumped and, turning back, I saw the horde break into the house and swarm it. Seconds later, an explosion ripped through the air, drowning out the pained screams of the Infected as they were engulfed by the massive fireball. The explosion itself knocked me off balance and sent Will and me tumbling to the floor. Getting up, we took another look at the place that our grandparents once were, now nothing but a destroyed wreck of a home.

Will broke down and hugged me as tightly as he could, unable to keep himself from crying. My shirt became wet with his tears quickly and I found myself hard pressed not to join him, but I didn't. I didn't join my brother in his cry, not because I didn't care, not because I didn't have tears to shed, but because right now he needed me to be strong, and I'd be damned if I couldn't do that much for my baby brother. Time eludes me to how long I spent staring at our Grandparents' funeral pyre. Gramps was right though, he took every single one of those bastards down with him somehow, but now there was something else missing, a hole in my heart that could never be filled again.

"You are our hearts too," I said solemnly. "I only wish I could've said it before." By the time Will stopped crying I wasn't sure how much longer I could stay strong. He let go of me and looked at me unsurely.

"You don't have to be strong anymore," Will said. I shook my head.

"Someone has to," was my reply. "You, Will, you cry as much as you need to. Then I'll let myself cry. I'll be strong for you, my little brother, as long as I need to. When I don't have to anymore, I'll have my turn." Will shook his head and, to my surprise, led me away from the pyre and back to the camp where everyone had woken up and was waiting for our return. Will told them of what happened, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I was hurting so badly and I didn't want to jeopardize my chances of being strong for my brother, otherwise I'd just lose it altogether.

"Zero," came Erin's sympathetic voice. She said nothing more and pulled me into as much of a loving embrace as she could. Looking at her closely, I noticed tears spilling from her eyes. "I understand. I understand why you won't cry, so let me cry for you." I almost lost it right there. She shouldn't have to cry for me, I could do it for myself. I tried to stop her tears but it didn't work. The group converged and solemnly did the same. It's almost hell how I learn things over again. No matter how hard we try, there are just something we'll never be able to control. All we can do is continue on as best as we can, moving forward despite the adversity and the hardship life throws our way. We decided not to travel that day to give Will and myself a short reprieve to recover.

Will continued on his day as normally as he could. He attempted to crack jokes every so often but every time he'd force a laugh he would soon break and start crying again. No one blamed him. No one could. The entire day I sat on the floor and stared blankly at the sky. Another memory came to me. When I was younger, I had a belief that angels lived on the clouds and watched us from there. As time passed and I grew older and my faith waned to nonexistence, I discounted that belief as childish and foolish. Now, though, I found myself watching the clouds, idly wondering if they were watching me right now. I even actively tried to see them on the clouds, watching over me and keeping me on the right path. Some childish beliefs follow you for a lifetime, but believing in them doesn't make you childish.

I watched the sky until night fell and we set the camp again. Once everyone was finally asleep, I let a single tear leave my eyes. It was just the first of many that would soon come, just as soon as I didn't have to be strong anymore. As horrible as the day's events were, it gave me a stronger appreciation for what I had. Despite being reminded of my mortality, I had my family right here with me, and someone that I loved dearly. Despite the loss, I still had so much that was still worth fighting for. I lied down next to Erin and pulled her close to me, enjoying the warmth her body shared.

"Just open your eyes and see that life is beautiful," I sang softly to myself. "Life... is... beautiful." Pulling Erin closer to me still, I shut my eyes and finally went to sleep under, what I hoped were, my grandparents' watchful and loving eyes.

* * *

**Zero: And that's the chapter.**

**Rendan: ... God fucking damn it.**

**Zero: Yeah, I'm not too happy about it myself but... it's life. We can't always control it.**

**Rendan: You think you should... you know?**

**Zero: Yeah, I got it. Okay, folks, I'm not the preachy type or the kind that likes to deliver sorrowful news so if you don't want to hear it, stop reading now. Anyway. Last July, Azard lost a member of his family to the reaper, exacerbated by the fact that it was his grandfather, a person that was responsible for his imagination and his storytelling, and he's been grieving since. Since his passing, Azard's been on a bumpy road with each day being different than the last, some obviously better than others. Still, in his grief it's become more difficult for him to write, so chances are updates will be a little more sporadic than they usually are, for all of his stories. If you wish to send your condolences, please do so in the form of a PM, since reviews should be about how the author is telling the story and not about his/her personal life.**

**Rendan: At least that's how it seems to us.**

**Zero: Pretty much. If you'd like to leave a review, feel free to do so and, after a review of the chapter, you may express condolences if you wish. It's all up to you. I think that'll do it.**

**Rendan: Yeah, I think so too. Be good.**

**Zero: Be safe.**

**Both: We're outta here.**


End file.
